Mackenzie Dern
Gi · -58kg · Black belt
Gracie Humaita / RVCA · Costa Mesa, CA
Mackenzie Dern's grappling record is 75-26-1 with 45 submissions. This page covers her jiu-jitsu career only and does not include her professional MMA bouts, which are recorded separately. In 2015 she won ADCC gold, the IBJJF World Championship in the gi and in no-gi, plus Pans, Europeans and the Abu Dhabi World Pro. She's a black belt under Wellington "Megaton" Dias, promoted in 2012, out of Gracie Humaita.
Photo: Canal Faixa Preta · CC BY 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
75 wins. 26 losses. How they came.
- Grappling record: 75-26-1
- By submission: 45
- By points: 20
- By decision or advantage: 7
- Finish rate: 60% of wins
- No-Gi record: 10-4-1
- Gi record: 51-20
- Sourced results: 2013–2024
Grappling and submission-only results. Professional MMA bouts are recorded separately and are not included in this record.
45 finishes, 7 doors.
- Toe hold: 15
- Choke from back: 6
- Kneebar: 5
- Armbar: 4
- Choke (unspecified): 3
- Cross collar choke: 3
- Other (7): 9
The numbers behind the game.
- 60% Wins by submission
- Toe hold Most-used finish
- 22 Finishes by leg lock
- 59 Opponents faced
- -55kg → -70kg Divisions competed
- 58 Absolute matches
- 25-12 In finals
- 12 Years competing
Hardware, in order.
- 2016 IBJJF Pan American Championships: 1st place
- 2016 IBJJF European Open: 1st place
- 2016 AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro: 1st place
- 2015 ADCC Championship: 1st place
- 2015 IBJJF World Championships: 1st place
- 2015 IBJJF World Championships NO-GI: 1st place
- 2015 IBJJF Pan American Championships: 1st place
- 2015 FIVE Super League Championships: 1st place
- 2015 IBJJF European Open: 1st place
- 2015 AJP Abu Dhabi World Pro: 1st place
Match history
| Date | Opponent | Event | Method | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2024 | Ffion Davies | CJI · Superfight | Submission | Loss |
| Sep 2017 | E. Karpinen | ADCC · Quarterfinal | Points | Loss |
| 2017 | Venla Luukkonen | European Open · Quarterfinal | Points | Win |
| 2017 | Tayane Porfirio | European Open · Semifinal | Points | Loss |
| 2017 | Carolina Carriello | European Open · Semifinal | Bow and arrow choke | Win |
| 2017 | Emily Thylin | European Open · Final | Decision | Win |
| 2017 | Pati Fontes | F2W 25 · Superfight | Cross collar choke | Win |
| 2017 | Katherine Jesus | Rio Fall Open · Semifinal | Points | Win |
| 2017 | Beatriz Mesquita | Rio Fall Open · Final | Choke from back | Loss |
| 2017 | Venla Luukkonen | World Champ. · Round of 16 | Points | Loss |
| 2016 | Yasmine Wilson | European Open · Final | Toe hold | Win |
| 2016 | Maria Dolores | European Open · Round 1 | Toe hold | Win |
| 2016 | Venla Luukkonen | European Open · Quarterfinal | Omoplata | Win |
| 2016 | Olga Lyashevska | European Open · Semifinal | Toe hold | Win |
| 2016 | Andresa Correa | European Open · Final | Points | Loss |
| 2016 | Rosie Snow | F2W 4 · Superfight | Armbar | Win |
| 2016 | Vianca Jager | Pan American · Semifinal | Straight ankle lock | Win |
| 2016 | Karen Antunes | Pan American · Final | Advantage | Win |
| 2016 | Leah Taylor | Pan American · Round 1 | Toe hold | Win |
| 2016 | Fernanda Mazzelli | Pan American · Quarterfinal | Points | Win |
102 sourced matches in total.
Against the names that matter.
- vs Michelle Nicolini: 4-1-1 across 6 meetings
- vs Tammi Musumeci: 3-3 across 6 meetings
- vs Karen Antunes: 5-0 across 5 meetings
- vs Gabrielle Garcia: 1-4 across 5 meetings
- vs Andresa Correa: 1-3 across 4 meetings
- vs Fernanda Mazzelli: 3-1 across 4 meetings
Where the game came from.
Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda · Carlos Gracie · Helio Gracie · Royler Gracie · Megaton Dias · Mackenzie Dern
- Team: Gracie Humaita / RVCA
- Promoted by: Wellington "Megaton" Dias
- Base: Costa Mesa, CA
- Black belt since: 2012
- Nationality: American
- Born: Phoenix, AZ, USA
- Height: 5'4" · 163 cm
- Weight: 52 kg
- Division: -58kg
- Competing since: 2013
2015 was one of the best years anyone has had
Megaton Dias promoted Dern in 2012. Her lineage runs Helio Gracie to Royler Gracie to Megaton, one of the most direct family lines in the sport.
Her 2015 season is the reason she's on this list. ADCC gold, IBJJF World Championship gold in the gi, IBJJF No-Gi World Championship gold, Pans gold, European Open gold and Abu Dhabi World Pro gold, all in one calendar year. Six major titles across both rulesets in twelve months.
The grappling record that surrounds that peak is more human than the other champions here: 75-26-1 across 102 matches, with a 60% finish rate. She competed constantly from 2013 to 2017 in stacked gi divisions, losing to Gabi Garcia four times, Dominyka Obelenyte three times and Tammi Musumeci three times in a 3-3 series.
After 2017 her sourced grappling activity stops, because her career moved to MMA. She returned once, at the Craig Jones Invitational in August 2024, and lost by submission to Ffion Davies. That's her most recent match in our records.
Fifteen toe holds, and nobody else here has more than five
Her most-used submission is the toe hold, at 15 of 45 finishes. No other athlete profiled on this site finishes primarily with a foot lock, and only Marcus Almeida has toe holds in his top five at all, with five.
Behind it are chokes from the back, kneebars, armbars and cross collar chokes. The leg attacks matter because they carried into her MMA career, where the same entries work against opponents trying to stand back up.
Common questions.
What is Mackenzie Dern's BJJ record?
75 wins, 26 losses and 1 draw across 102 sourced grappling matches from 2013 to 2024, with 45 wins by submission. Her professional MMA record is separate and isn't included in that figure.
Has Mackenzie Dern won ADCC?
Yes, gold in 2015. That was the same year she won the IBJJF World Championship in both the gi and no-gi, along with Pans, the European Open and the Abu Dhabi World Pro.
Why is Mackenzie Dern well known?
She won six major jiu-jitsu titles in 2015, including ADCC gold and World titles in both the gi and no-gi, then moved to professional MMA while still in her early twenties. That crossover is unusual for a grappler with a résumé at that level.
What is Mackenzie Dern's signature submission?
The toe hold, which accounts for 15 of her 45 submission wins. It's the most concentrated foot-lock game of any athlete profiled on this site.
Jiu jitsu in Costa Mesa.
Sourcing
Record compiled from 102 sourced results and 10 title records across 1 source page. 2 matches carry an exact date; the remaining 100 are dated to the year only, as published by the source. Last verified 2026-08-28.