Mackenzie Dern and Tecia Torres fight Saturday in UFC 273 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Dern enters this fight with an 11-2 record and has won 64 percent of her fights by submission. Torres enters this fight with a 13-5 record and has won 85 percent of her fights by decision.
Dern has won six of her last eight fights and is coming off an October loss to Marina Rodriguez. Dern is averaging 3.13 significant strikes per minute, with an accuracy percentage of 36 percent. Dern is averaging 0.54 takedowns with an accuracy percentage of 10 percent. Dern is coming off a decision loss at UFC Fight Night 194 where she landed 80 total strikes and ate 148 total strikes. The bout earned fight of the night honors, and Dern has seen bonuses in four of her last five fights. Dern is a black belt in BJJ and has possibly the most decorated background in submission wrestling, and she’s won countless medals in various events. Dern is deadly when she can dictate the pace of the fight and get things on the canvas. The daughter of Wellington Dias, Dern was born into a grappling and judo family, and her scrambling ability is as good as it gets. Dern has seen all 13 of her fights end in submission or decision. This will be Dern’s second career fight in Florida.
Torres has split her last eight fights, and she’s coming off an August win over Angela Hill. Torres is averaging 4.71 significant strikes per minute, with an accuracy percentage of 48 percent. Torres is averaging 0.71 takedowns with an accuracy percentage of 15 percent. Torres is coming off a decision win at UFC 265 where she landed 166 total strikes and produced a takedown. Torres has now won each of her last three fights, and seven of her last eight fights overall have gone to the judges. Torres now looks for four straight wins for the first time since 2013-15. Torres is primarily a striker who relies on her black belts in taekwondo and karate, so there’s a lot of stand-up striking, combinations and leg kicks. Torres is also a blue belt in BJJ, and her ground game has improved over the years. There’s not much finish ability to Torres’ game, as 16 of her 18 fights have gone to decision. Torres has never been finished in her career. This will be Torres’ third career fight in Florida.
If forced to pick this fight, I’d lean toward Torres because of her standup striking and ability to push the pace. Torres also lived in Florida for a long time and went to college at FAU, so she should have a decent amount of support in the building, which could help. However, neither of these fighters are finishers, and they see a ton of decisions. The safer bet is predicting this bout goes to the judges.
I’ll take this fight going the distance.