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Chael Sonnen Unleashes a Fiery Verdict on Mackenzie Dern After Ribas Victory

Chael Sonnen Unleashes a Fiery Verdict on Mackenzie Dern After Ribas Victory Chael Sonnen really wants to see Mackenzie Dern succeed, though he has no idea why. Nearly six years removed…

Chael Sonnen really wants to see Mackenzie Dern succeed, though he has no idea why.

Nearly six years removed from their first-ever meeting inside the Octagon, Dern evened the series against strawweight rival Amanda Ribas, scoring a third-round submission victory via armbar to move her UFC record to 10-5.

Over the years, Dern has emerged as a favorite among fight fans. Unfortunately, the BJJ sensation has done little to capitalize on her popularity — something Sonnen says goes back to before her move into mixed martial arts.

“I could not go back over Mackenzie’s career and hand her one compliment on anything she’s done from an entertainment aspect,” Sonnen said on Good Guy/Bad Guy with Daniel Cormier. “I couldn’t tell you one time she had a microphone in her hand and turned it into a pipe bomb. I could not tell you one opportunity that she pushed everybody else aside and came and got it for herself.

“I could tell you before she made her UFC debut, a guy named Chael Sonnen called her to do a pure grappling match, straight up jiu-jitsu against somebody called Miesha Tate, who was one of the biggest names in the whole sport, and there was no amount of money to get Mackenzie on the airplane to do the match. Her reasoning? She wants to focus on MMA. So, I’m attempting to explain to her that if you want to break into MMA, this is Miesha Tate, come get your money, and she never did it” (h/t MMA Junkie).

Chael Sonnen insists Mackenzie Dern is ‘Unaware of the sport’

With an impressive showing against Ribas and four Fight Night headliners in her rearview, Dern had an opportunity to get on the mic and shoot her shot. Instead, Dern remained humble and stressed that she was in no rush to challenge for a world title.

In Sonnen’s eyes, it was a massively missed opportunity and further evidence that Dern is simply “unaware of the sport.”

“She decides she needs to get better at jiu-jitsu, she leaves her father, Wellington ‘Megaton,’ one of the biggest stars there is, goes out with Jason Parillo in California and starts hitting mitts which got her nowhere than missing punches and blocking shots with her face,” Sonnen added. “I’ve never seen Mackenzie get it right. Everyone likes her, myself included, everyone seems to be rooting for her for reasons I really can’t explain to you, myself included.

“She looks like she does really care about this sport. She talks about some of her hardships and things outside the ring which do compel you very much to her, but as far as understanding what makes dollars has got to make sense, she doesn’t know what any of those words mean. I’ve never seen a second-generation athlete so unaware of the sport that’s going on around them.”

Chael Sonnen Doesn’t Hold Back In Criticism Of Mackenzie Dern: ‘So Unaware Of The Sport…’

Chael Sonnen often finds it frustrating when fighters do not capitalize on the moment by making the most out of their time in the spotlight. As one of the greatest talkers in the history of the sport, “The Bad Guy” was recently critical of one athlete in particular for this side of their personality and […]

Mackenzie Dern came out on top in the first UFC main event of 2025 when she avenged her loss to Amanda Ribas this past weekend. It was an important win for the #6-ranked contender who, with an armbar in the third round, became the first person to submit Brazil’s Ribas in her pro career.

When she was handed the floor in her post-fight interview, Dern spoke about wanting to add to her submission record as she shared the cage with her young daughter. When the conversation turned to what target she is pursuing next, the 31-year old said that her main focus is on building momentum by getting another win under her belt and whilst she would prefer to fight an opponent that is ranked higher than her, she admitted that this might not be possible because she has faced many of the top names in the division in the past.

On a recent episode of ESPN MMA’s Good Guy/Bad Guy alongside Daniel Cormier, Sonnen was fairly negative towards the submission specialist for not placing more emphasis on the entertainment side of the sport by being more assertive.

“I could not go back over Mackenzie’s career and hand her one compliment on anything she’s done from an entertainment aspect,” Sonnen said. “I couldn’t tell you one time she had a microphone in her hand and turned it into a pipe bomb. I could not tell you one opportunity that she pushed everybody else aside and came and got it for herself.”

Sonnen believes that whilst she does appear to win fans over, Dern doesn’t do anything intentionally to drive her own stock which he finds baffling.

“I’ve never seen Mackenzie get it right. Everyone likes her, myself included, everyone seems to be rooting for her for reasons I really can’t explain to you, myself included.

“She looks like she does really care about this sport. She talks about some of her hardships and things outside the ring which do compel you very much to her, but as far as understanding what makes dollars has got to make sense, she doesn’t know what any of those words mean. I’ve never seen a second-generation athlete so unaware of the sport that’s going on around them.”

Eric Nicksick Slams ‘Egomaniac’ Ref Who Stopped Chris Curtis Fight: ‘That Was Some Btch Sht!’

Eric Nicksick was not happy with a call that was made in relation to one of his fighters at the first UFC event of the year. This past weekend at the Apex, Roman Kopylov and Chris Curtis earned the first fight of the night bonus of 2025 for their middleweight clash. In the final seconds […]

In the final seconds of the back-and-forth battle, Kopylov took Curtis off his feet with a head kick which referee Mark Smith deemed was the end of the fight. He stepped into wave the fight off with just one second left on the clock and his decision was instantly scrutinized by both Curtis and his Xtreme Couture corner.

Whilst his opponent believes that it was the right call to make, the argument in favor of Curtis is that with the final bell about to sound and his opponent backing off rather than pursuing his opponent, “The Action Man” was in no sense of danger whatsoever. On a recent episode of his Verse Us podcast, Nicksick spoke about how he was frustrated with the referee long before the stoppage for not punishing several fouls which slowed the fight down.

”That’s what I’m pissed off about. You never get three timeouts in a f—king fight. So, number one, he spit his mouthpiece out. That wasn’t too bad. All right. Groin strike… Then the eye poke, and I calmly said to Mark, ‘Hey, that is two infractions in a row in this round. Where’s the point?”

Nicksick went on to talk specifically about the stoppage and goes further than that by talking about Smith’s personality and his issues with the prominent official.

”You [Smith] decided to stop the fight with one second left… Let the motherfu*ker go out on his shield bro. That was some b*tch sh*t, you didn’t have to stop the fight on that moment… He fraternizes with other gyms, teams, fighters, coaches and everything else… I think he’s an egomaniac. I mean, I’ve never heard a ref ask people to vote for him for the ‘MMA Ref of the Year.”

Nicksick also posted the following statement on Instagram, addressing his reaction to the stoppage and apologizing for his actions.

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A post shared by Eric Nicksick (@eric_xcmma)

Fighter Who Slapped Coach & Husband After UFC Vegas 101 Loss Apologizes: ‘I Couldn’t Control My Emotions’

The first UFC event of the year had its fair share of talking points and one of them came in the second bout to take place inside the Octagon in 2025. Victoria Dudakova suffered her second consecutive loss after being stopped in the second round by Fatima Kline at strawweight. Rather than Kline delivering the […]

Rather than Kline delivering the first finish of the new year, it was what happened after the bout that grabbed the headlines. After Dudakova’s corner entered the Octagon to console her in defeat, she appeared to turn around and slap one of her coaches, who is also her husband, as seen below.

The 25-year old Russian has since posted a message on social media to explain the situation from her point of view. She publicly apologized for her actions, stating that her emotions got the better of her in that moment having been finished for the first time in her 10-fight pro career.

She posted the following message on Instagram to provide more context and thank her supporters.

“Emotions have subsided a bit…..First of all, I would like to apologize to my husband and coach. I was hurt that in such a difficult moment, he turned his back on me and didn’t want to come into the cage. That’s no excuse and I’m not looking for an excuse for myself. I did the wrong thing, I couldn’t control my emotions. I set a bad example for the athletes and the younger generation. I also want to apologize to the sports fans. Thank you to everyone who stays with me in such a difficult situation”

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A post shared by Victoria Dudakova (@victoriadudakova)

UFC Fighter Victoria Dudakova Reflects on Emotional Outburst Following TKO Loss: ‘I Couldn’t Cope’

Russian standout Victoria Dudakova admits her emotions got the best of her following a second-straight loss inside the Octagon….

Russian standout Victoria Dudakova admits her emotions got the best of her following a second-straight loss inside the Octagon.

Returning to the Octagon for the UFC’s first fight card of 2025, Dudukova found herself quickly outmatched against former CFFC titleholder Fatima Kline as part of the evening’s preliminary portion.

Losing via a second-round TKO after being bloodied and batter on the mat, Dudukova’s frustration reached a boiling point. As one of her coaches entered the frame and placed his arm around the fighter to console her, Dudukova promptly stepped back and slapped the individual.

Later, the Russian’s comments during the incident were translated.

Victoria Dudakova apologizes for her actions

Now that the dust has settled, Dudukova took to social media and offered an apology for her unsportsmanlike actions.

“Emotions are a little off…

First and foremost, I would like to apologize to my husband and my coach,” Dudakova wrote on Instagram. “I was sorry that in such a difficult moment, he turned his back on me and didn’t want to enter the cage. This is not an excuse and I am not looking for excuses for myself. I did wrong, I couldn’t cope with my emotions. I set a bad example for athletes and the younger generation. I also want to apologize to sports fans. Thanks to everyone who stays with me in this difficult situation”

Dudukova stormed into the UFC with a 6-0 record, including a solid showing against Maria Silva on an August 2022 episode of Dana White’s Contender Series.

She followed that up with back-to-back wins against Istela Nunes and Jinh Yu Frey, but since then, she came up short against Sam Hughes, surrendering a closely contested split decision, and was stopped for the first time in her career against Kline to kick off the new year.

Mark Smith Bashed by Fighter For Last-Second Chris Curtis Stoppage At UFC Vegas 101: ‘Got To Be The Lowest Graded Ref’

UFC Vegas 101 brought fight fans the first UFC card of 2025 and with that came the first set of highlight reel finishes, entertaining contests and yes, controversial refereeing decisions. The middleweight clash between Roman Kopylov and Chris Curtis earned the first fight of the night bonus of the year following their back-and-forth encounter on […]

What the fight will likely be remembered for however is the call that Mark Smith made to wave the fight off with just one second left on the clock. Kopylov landed a head kick that knocked Curtis off balance but with the clock running down and his opponent on the floor, the Russian decided to back away rather than chasing his opponent to the ground to land more strikes.

Despite the fact that Curtis wasn’t in danger of taking any more damage, Smith stepped in and the stoppage was heavily disputed by “The Action Man” in the immediate aftermath. It’s also of note that the fight was tied at 19-19 across all three scorecards heading into the third round which would have been won by Kopylov if the fight had continued for one more second.

Curtis has since posted a statement on social media where he seemed less frustrated at the ending of the fight though he was still disappointed to have not secured the victory. Kopylov, on the other hand, believes that the official made the right decision, stating in his post-fight press conference that he chose not to follow-up with any more strikes because it wasn’t neccesary and that he’s open to the idea of a rematch if that’s what people want.

In a post on social media, UFC flyweight Charles Johnson criticized Smith by questioning the consistency of his decision making.

“Mark smith has got to be the lowest graded ref on roster. Constantly interjects himself and only thing consistent with calls is his inconsistency”

Mark smith has got to be the lowest graded ref on roster

Constantly interjects himself and only thing consistent with calls is his inconsistency

— Charles "InnerG" Johnson (@innerGmma_ufc) January 12, 2025

Some of the replies underneath Johnson’s post made reference to one of his previous fights which was refereed by Smith. In his fight with Sumudaerji last October, he believed that the fight should have been stopped but Smith didn’t step in and it ended up going the distance.