Mackenzie Dern and Tecia Torres face off in a women’s strawweight bout at UFC 273 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Dern is ranked 5th in the division while Torres is ranked 7th.
Mackenzie Dern comes into this fight with an 11-2 record and she has won four of her last five fights. The only loss during that stretch came in the last game against Marina Rodriguez. Dern was outstruck 144-49 in that fight and that led to the loss. Two fights ago against Nina Nunes, Dern won the fight by submission. Dern is averaging 3.13 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 4.14 significant strikes per minute. Dern is averaging 0.54 successful takedowns every 15 minutes but she is only successful on 10 percent of her takedown attempts. Dern is also averaging 1.8 submission attempts every 15 minutes.
On the other side of this matchup is Tecia Torres who sits with a 13-5 record and she has won four fights in a row. Torres last fight came against Angela Hill in August of 2021 and it was a unanimous victory. Torres had 144 significant strikes per minute and that was enough to win by unanimous decision. Torres is averaging 4.71 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.61 significant strikes per minute. Torres is averaging 0.71 takedowns every 15 minutes but she is only successful on 15 percent of her takedown attempts. She also stops 58 percent of her takedown attempts. In this fight Torres is going to need to be the aggressor early and really put Dern on her back foot.
The better all around fighter is Torres and I expect she is going to get the fight to the ground, and then dominate from there. Dern’s only real path to victory in this fight is with a submission and I don’t see her locking that in. I don’t think Torres is going to find the finish, but she will secure the victory. Back Torres by decision.
AUTHOR: Shane Mickle
