Mackenzie Dern (photo via Mackenzie Dern.com)

By FCF Staff

Although Mackenzie Dern scored a first round, submission win at UFC 224 on Saturday, the prospect is heading to the promotion’s Performance Institute, after missing weight for the bout by a wide margin.

Dern took on strawweight Amanda Bobby Cooper on Saturday, and after dropping her with a big right, she sunk in a fight ending, rear-naked-choke. The victory, however, was marred by the fact Dern weighed in at 123 pounds for the bout.

After the win, Dern confirmed that she’s been asked to come to the UFC Performance Institute, in an effort to address her weight cutting issues (quote via MMA Junkie):

“I can’t lose that opportunity to get all that help from this organization that’s so big”

“They’ve already told me that even without a fight, they’re going to tell me in a couple months that I’m going to need to make weight,” added Dern, while discussing the fact she hopes to demonstrate she doesn’t need to fight at flyweight. “But that’s what I need. Not that it’s not important to me, but I believe in what they’re offering me. I’m going to take their help.”

With Saturday’s win, the decorated grappler moved her pro MMA record to 7-0.