Mackenzie Dern Reveals Why Poker Has Made Her a Better MMA Fighter: “Think and read people”

UFC strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern has explained the important role that poker has played in her mixed martial arts career.

Earlier this year, Mackenzie Dern finally reached the top of the mountain. She was able to defeat Virna Jandiroba for the second time in her career and in doing so, she was finally able to hold gold at the elite level. As we look ahead to the future, it’ll be interesting to see what comes next for her, which could include a pretty interesting showdown with Zhang Weili after she failed to take the flyweight crown from Valentina Shevchenko.

Mackenzie Dern was the kind of fighter who would take one step forward and then two steps back for long spells of her UFC run. Alas, she’s finally been able to piece it all together, and she is now sitting at the top of the division. It’s taken a lot of hard work for her to get to that point, and while people may still criticize her, nobody can take this accomplishment away.

There are many factors that have helped contribute to Mackenzie Dern reaching this next level. In her own words, though, one of the most important has been her starting to play and excel in poker.

Mackenzie Dern explains the importance of poker for her career

“I started playing poker maybe a year and a half ago, and I feel like that’s when I kind of went on my roll with Lupita, then Amanda Ribas, and now with Weili. I’ve always been really emotional when I fight – I get punched and I want to punch them ten times back, and the strategy goes out the window. Poker really helped me control my emotions, take my time, think, and read people, which is exactly what we do in fighting.”​

How long will she be able to hold on to the title? Only time will tell, but she certainly seems to be getting better every time she goes in there.