UFC fighter Mackenzie Dern has announced that she is pregnant with her first child, meaning that her fighting career will have to be put on hold for the time being.
“God makes everything so perfect!” Dern wrote on Instagram. “I am so happy to be able to share this news! I’m going to be a Mom! I love so much our family and now I have one more HUGE motivation for inside and outside the ring!! Thank you God for this blessing @santoswesley ❤️ I also want to thank all my fans and sponsors for the support during all the life phases and I can’t wait to be back in the ring!”
The father of her firstborn is Wesley Santos, a Brazilian pro-surfer who won the Rip Curl Pro tournament in Argentina last year.
A major Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu star before transitioning to MMA, the 25-year-old Dern had been tipped as one of the next big things in the sport and has so far compiled back-to-back wins in the UFC over Ashley Yoder and Amanda Cooper, taking her overall record to 7-0.
However, she failed to make weight for her last fight back in May of 2018 – something that’s been a problem throughout her MMA career to date – and it looks like quite some time before she’ll set foot in the Octagon again.
