On Friday night, mixed martial arts fans were treated to a great event at Golden Nugget Casino Hotel in Lake Charles, Louisiana with Legacy 58 airing on AXS TV. The event featured the MMA debut of Mackenzie Dern, the top female Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner on the planet, and another jiu jitsu ace, Robert Drysdale, fighting for the title.
When it came to Dern’s debut, the 23 year old delivered.
Dern strung together some incredible submission attempts in the first round, but her opponent, Kenia Ross, was incredibly tough and resilient and was able to fight through the fight-ending attempts. After the first round, Dern settled and used her unrivaled transitions and positioning to dominate the fight for the final ten minutes.
Ross deserves credit for hanging in until the final bell, but it was all Dern.
Dern showed clear room for improvement on the feet and with her takedown attempts, but it was her MMA debut so she will have time to continue growing into a complete mixed martial artist.
In the main event, Drysdale was able to use his high-level jiu jitsu credentials to submit Ryan Spann en route to claiming the promotion’s vacant light heavyweight title.
Overall, it was a great night of fans in attendance and a great night for jiu jitsu in MMA.
The full event results from Legacy 58 can be seen below, along with the highlights from Dern and Drysdale’s impressive outings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iiRLd41ICk
- Robert Drysdale def Ryan Spann via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:58
- Josh Quayhagen def. Rey Trujillo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Mackenzie Dern def. Kenia Rosas via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)
- Cody Williams def. Ryan Hollis via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 4:35
- Matthew Mooney def. Gage Duhon via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 0:14
- Brendan Allen def. C.J. Hancock via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:54
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