Marina Rodriguez vs. Mackenzie Dern
UFC: Saturday, October 9th at 4:00 PM ET
The Line: -- Marina Rodriguez +130 / Mackenzie Dern -150 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez face off on Saturday in a women’s strawweight battle for the main event of UFC Fight Night 194 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Dern is currently ranked 4th in the division while Rodriguez is currently ranked 6th.
Mackenzie Dern comes into this fight with an 11-1 record overall and she has won four fights in a row. Dern’s last fight came against Nina Nunes in April of 2021 and it was late in the first round that she locked in an armbar and won the fight by submission. Dern is averaging 3.64 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.57 significant strikes per minute. Dern mostly likes to keep the fight on the feet, but she is averaging 0.51 takedowns every 15 minutes and is successful on 10 percent of his takedown attempts. Dern wants to lock in submission attempts and she tries 2.3 of those every 15 minutes. In this fight, look for Dern to try and lock in one of those submissions early, and finish this fight.
On the other side of this matchup is Marina Rodriguez who sits with a 14-1-2 record overall and she has won two straight fights. Her last fight came against Michelle Waterson in May of 2021, and it was a dominant performance. Rodriguez outstruck Waterson 125-88 and that led to the unanimous decision loss. Rodriguez is averaging 4.89 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.24 significant strikes per minute. Rodriguez likes to keep the fight on the ground and is only averaging 0.28 successful takedowns every 15 minutes. She is also stopping 62 percent of her opponents' takedown attempts.
Dern is the better fighter, and she is going to have no issue dominating this fight. Rodriguez is going to get herself in a bad position, and Dern is going to take advantage. Take Dern to win this fight on the money line, and throw a little bit on Dern to win by submission.