Mackenzie Dern Says MMA Lab Coach Invited Her To Leave The Team
Mackenzie Dern is back in against later this month at UFC 224, facing Amanda Cooper on the pay-per-view portion of the card.
The Brazilian made her UFC debut at UFC 222, but was then invited to leave the MMA Lab a short time after by coach John Crouch.
“In relation with the Lab, after my last fight, Coach [John] Crouch, he just invited me to leave the team,” Dern said at a UFC 224 media lunch. “I think really we don’t have a 100-percent understanding. I think he knows his decisions more than me. I think with just the consistency, he wanted me to be there more often than what I was, but everything happens for a reason.”
Dern has moved onto the Checkmat team out of Los Angeles, California, but the fighter doesn’t know if they will become her new permanent home.
Crouch did comment to MMA Fighting about the move with Dern, which he attributes to apparent tough times the fighter has had with traveling between Arizona and California.
“She was struggling to make it back and forth to Arizona, and I thought it was better that she just set up her camp in California, where she really enjoys being,” Crouch said. “I wish her the best. I know she’s going to do great in her jiu-jitsu career and in her MMA career, and we’ll be cheering for her.”
UFC 224 takes place on Saturday, May 12 from the Jeunesse Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil with Amanda Nunes and Raquel Pennington headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
