"People don't believe" - Mackenzie Dern details overcoming personal struggles for Jessica Andrade fight amid divorce and gym shutdown (Exclusive)

UFC strawweight sensation Mackenzie Dern is set to lock horns with former 115-pound women's champion Jessica Andrade this weekend at UFC 295 at the Madison Square Garden in New York.

In her recent fights, the Brazilian fighter's track record has been a bit of a rollercoaster, with two losses in her last four bouts. Yet, she truly put the strawweight division on notice with a dominant performance against Angela Hill at UFC Vegas 73. Amidst the spotlight, she's also been navigating through some tough personal challenges during this stint.

Beyond the octagon, Mackenzie Dern was involved in a highly publicized and complicated legal dispute with her estranged husband, Wesley Santos. The relationship between Dern and Santos had been tumultuous for some time, despite their attempts to reconcile. Dern accused Santos of physical abuse and spoke out about the possibility of losing custody of her daughter, Moa.

Speaking about the personal battles she has had to endure and how she overcame them in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Mackenzie Dern stated:

"I thought that I understood the formula [and] I would have no problems and be at peace during the whole camp. [But] no matter what problems you have, you keep having more. This camp was really crazy for me with a lot of crazy things happening in my personal life. But what we did was build a personal gym for me."

Dern added:

"I'm someone if you see me in the gym, people don't believe that I was a world champion in jiu-jitsu... I'm probably getting beat up but when I fight everything just comes together. For me to make my camp and everything private I felt really helped me a lot to be able to stay with my thoughts."

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Mackenzie Dern opens up about personal struggles ahead of UFC 295

Ahead of UFC 295, Mackenzie Dern opened up about the challenges she navigated, from a tumultuous divorce to the unexpected closure of her former gym at the pre-fight media scrum.

Despite finalizing her divorce, Dern acknowledged the lingering aftermath and financial strains. In a candid moment during UFC 295 media day, she stated:

"Just the pressure. The last one I went through was 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. Money’s something, I’ll fight here, I’ll get it, whatever. Winning or losing, everything’s going to be taken care of. I’ll make more [money] and stuff like that but it’s just problems.”

Catch Mackenzie Dern's comments below:

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Tune in: UFC 295: Prochazka vs Pereira will be telecast live on Sony Sports Network in India on 12th November 2023, 8:30 AM IST onwards, on Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 3 SD & HD (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 SD & HD (Tamil & Telugu) channels & will be available to livestream on Sony LIV.