A prank format show put UFC strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern to work in a segment that left several fans red-faced on camera. In the setup, Dern stood just out of sight while members of the public were asked for their honest opinions on women’s MMA. What followed was a series of candid moments that ranged from awkward to genuinely entertaining.
The most memorable exchange came when one fan did not hold back his thoughts. “I like it, I really do,” he said of women’s MMA. “But I can’t lie, in recent years it’s diminished. I hate to say it, I hate to be that guy. They haven’t evolved in the last like what, seven years at this point. It’s like we might have to cut some divisions.”
When the interviewer asked if he knew who the strawweight champion was, the same fan fumbled through an answer, confusing the name before being corrected. Seconds later, Dern stepped out from behind the camera.
The fan, now standing face to face with the champion he had just criticized, scrambled to recover and landed on: “I was just about to say you won one of my parlays. All I got to say is thank you.”
A second fan fared no better when the conversation turned to how Dern might do against former champion Zhang Weili. He was sure of his prediction. “I got Weili by crucifix, by five rounds of just straight, you know, dominance,” he said.
Another fan named Weili as the winner but when Dern appeared, the fan tried to revise his position, suggesting that a submission from Dern was actually a real possibility.
Dern played along while the interviewer reminded him of what he had said before she walked up. “I hope I’m wrong,” he told her. Dern responded simply: “I’ll get this, I promise.”
Not every fan was caught in an unflattering moment. One viewer had already named Dern as his favorite women’s figh ter and spoken about her path to the title before she appeared.
“Just congratulate her and stuff,” he said when asked what he would say to her. Then she walked up. “Oh my god. Congratulations on winning the belt. That’s crazy,” he said.
Another fan kept things even simpler when asked what he would want to say to Dern: “I’d probably ask for a picture.” When she appeared, he got one.
