Does Mackenzie Dern have a kid? Looking into the UFC star's family life

Mackenzie Dern is one of the most recognizable female UFC fighters, who has earned a significant fan base. Although she often shares small snippets of information about her personal life on social media, there is a lot of intrigue surrounding her marriage, relationship, and kid. This article explores her marriage and sheds light on Dern's family life.

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Does Mackenzie Dern have a kid?

Yes, UFC women's strawweight fighter Mackenzie Dern does have a kid.

Dern was married to Wesley Santos, a professional surfer who embarked on his surfing career in 2011. Their daughter, Moa, was born in 2019. Following the couple's divorce in 2023, Dern and Santos have mutually agreed to co-parent their daughter.

Although their differences appear to have been resolved amicably, Dern and Santos' divorce became a highly publicized issue and marked a tumultuous phase in their lives.

Dern accused Santos of physical abuse and spoke up about the distressing situation. She even highlighted her inability to defend herself due to the fear of legal repercussions and the risk of losing custody of her daughter.

Moreover, there were accusations from Wesley Santos' side as well. He accused Dern of physically assaulting him, providing photographic evidence of a bloody nose he alleged she had caused during an altercation in a restaurant parking lot. He also accused Dern of mistreating their daughter.

After all the legal proceedings, the court granted joint custody of their daughter, Moa and Dern was designated as the primary earner. As a result, she was ordered by the court to pay Santos $10,000 for his legal fees and an additional monthly allowance of $4,006 for spousal and child support.

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When Mackenzie Dern revealed that most of her purse from her fight against Jessica Andrade would go to her ex-husband

When the speculations surrounding her divorce were at their peak, Mackenzie Dern returned to action to face former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade at UFC 295 in November 2023. Ahead of her fight, Dern spoke to the media about her personal life and opened up about divorce proceedings.

While further claiming that most of her hard-earned money from her upcoming fight would go to clear her alimony dues. Mackenzie Dern said:

“I realized we always have problems. Just the pressure. The last one I went through the divorce. The divorce is final but you don’t realize how much aftermath there is to it. Literally, this whole fight is still paying my ex. It’s crazy, I have to get punched in the face and you work so hard and you do all this and you have to like pay that much of something."

Catch her comments in the clip below:

Unfortunately for Dern, she suffered consecutive defeats against Andrade and Amanda Lemos. After getting back in the win column with a unanimous decision victory over Loopy Godinez in August 2024, the 31-year-old is set to face Amanda Ribas at UFC Vegas 101 on Jan. 11. The fight is the rematch of their October 2019 encounter that Ribas won by unanimous decision, handing Dern her first professional MMA loss.