"All the great champions from the gym, we all had an ability to take you down" - Daniel Cormier makes case for Mackenzie Dern to train at AKA
Following her razor-thin decision loss to Yan Xiaonan last weekend, Mackenzie Dern has been urged by Daniel Cormier to relocate to the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), a place where Cormier believes she can improve her wrestling.
The jiu-jitsu practitioner is phenomenal when the fight hits the ground but often has a hard time getting her opponents to the mat continuously in her matchups. Although she has won just once in her last three outings, the 29-year-old remains in title contention and is potentially two wins away from a tilt at UFC gold.
While discussing what happened in the UFC Fight Night headliner on October 1, Daniel Cormier insisted that Mackenzie Dern would benefit from joining AKA and working on her offensive grappling:
"You know what I think Mackenzie Dern needs to do is? She needs to go up to a place like AKA where the wrestlers can help her with the takedown transitions, to allow for her to get to where she wants to be. If you recall, all the great champions from the gym, we all had an ability to go take you down, but take you down in multiple ways, that's where she struggles. She struggles when she can't get the fight to the floor, so she needs to be at a grappling-heavy gym."
Meanwhile, Dern's opponent last weekend, Yan Xiaonan, managed to force her way into the top five of the UFC women's strawweight rankings with an impressive performance against the American. The 115-pounder will be aiming to collect a couple more wins inside the octagon before angling for a shot at the champion.
Check out the advice that Daniel Cormier had for Mackenzie Dern in the video below:
Should Mackenzie Dern listen to Daniel Cormier's advice?
The second letter in 'AKA' may stand for 'kickboxing', but the gym has been home to some of the greatest wrestlers the UFC has ever seen. Furthermore, it looks set to continue in that tradition with some of its rising stars.
Daniel Cormier, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Cain Velasquez are just three of the elite grapplers AKA has seen throughout the years. The gym is regarded by many as one of the best places to work on the craft of mixed martial arts.
If she takes the time to work with the specialists down in San Jose, California, Dern could become one of the most dangerous active fighters on the roster and a real threat to the 115lbs throne.