“UFC Vegas 73” was a major coming out party for
Mackenzie
Dern. Her five-round defeat of perennial contender
Angela Hill
announced to the women’s strawweight division that Dern was an
improved fighter and a major player in the future of the division.
Dern absolutely dominated from bell to bell and delivered what was
probably a career-best performance where she mixed up striking and
grappling better than she has in times past.
Today, we look at that fight and how Dern managed to go in there
and dominate so completely. What did Dern add to her game? This is
the question we will be exploring today.
Head and Arm: A Bane of My Existence
From the jump, Dern managed to get to the clinch with Hill with her
boxing. In the first round, we saw Dern utilize the head and arm
throw to try to get Hill to the ground only to have Hill end up in
a better position than her.
The head and arm throw is a legitimate throw, surely. But in
women’s MMA we see it all too often. Fighters, noticeably women
without wrestling experience, will often get caught in a head and
arm and get taken to the mat over and over. Instead of adjusting
and not getting caught in a clinch and letting an opponent grab
your head, they make the same mistake over and over.
There are videos of children, six- and seven-year-olds, defending
this properly. If you’re caught in a head and arm throw, lock your
hands around the body and step around to the close leg. There you
can drop down to grab the back, pick up a single leg, or step
around. This is Day 1 stuff and seeing it week in and week out is
driving me crazy, but I won’t fault Dern for using the head and arm
throw. If your opponent keeps putting him or herself in a
compromising position, it’s your responsibility to keep exploiting
that. What I will say about Dern is that she lost position on the
throw and that’s not optimal, but then again, she’s a former ADCC
champion. Being on the bottom is not all that bad for her,
especially considering how aggressive she is from her back.