Mackenzie Dern ordered to pay $4,000 alimony to husband Wesley Santos after divorce
UFC strawweight Mackenzie Dern was embroiled in a legal battle against her husband, Wesley Santos, prior to her fight against Angela Hill at UFC Vegas 73.
Santos and Dern have endured a turbulent relationship for a while now and have found it difficult to sustain their relationship despite repeated attempts and persistence from both sides.
The UFC strawweight has traded physical abuse allegations with Santos and revealed an incident that made it to court due to the existence of video footage that saw Santos rough up their home before the police intervened.
According to court documents obtained by MMA Fighting, the allegations extend towards Santos abusing Dern's two dogs, and denying her access to finances in a Brazilian bank account while also misusing her credit card and a lease renewal on a previously shared apartment.
Santos also accused his wife of physically abusing their three-year-old daughter Moa, an allegation she has denied.
Neither Mackenzie Dern nor Wesley Santos have found support in their respective abuse allegations in court but a ruling was made with regards to their custody battle. Joint custody of Moa was given to both parents with Dern being ruled as the primary earner between the two. Therefore, she was ordered by the court to pay her estranged husband's court fees amounting to $10,000 and an additional monthly spousal and child allowance of $4,006.
Mackenzie Dern will have to pay her ex-husband $4,000 a month. After filing for divorce, the court understood that Mackenzie was the main provider of the home and decided that she should pay a pension of US$4,000 to Wesley Santos, in addition to US$10,000 for the legal expenses. https://t.co/LLAlfWuJyi
Mackenzie Dern divorce: Husband Wesley Santos denies public allegations
Mackenzie Dern spoke about her recent troubles with her husband and revealed various other details in an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour last week. Dern got quite emotional in the interview as she opened up about her helplessness in the relationship.
Check out an excerpt from Mackenzie Dern's interview on The MMA Hour:
Mackenzie Dern opens up on her divorce.
“It’s crazy for me cause I always want to represent someone who can stand up for themselves and can defend themselves for all the women out there - so for me to see myself in that situation was really hard.”
Tough to hear. Very open… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… https://t.co/jNARpjyvTP
Wesley Santos released a written statement denying the allegations and expressing his disappointment in his estranged wife's decision to open up about their fractured relationship. He wrote:
“I am disappointed that Mackenzie chose to make public statements about our divorce, especially since it involves the custody of our beautiful daughter, Moa. Because we are in the middle of legal proceedings, I cannot comment on anything at this time, except to say that Mackenzie’s statements are false and defamatory.” [h/t MMA Fighting]
The pair continue their legal divorce battle and Santos has stated that he will not address the issue until the case is concluded.