Whos striking is better? Dern or Ronda?

[Better Every Day]

Ronda's striking dropped and finished Sara McMann, Alexis Davis, and Bethe Correia (and she did it in the first round in each case). Mackenzie Dern has done nothing comparable with her striking.

 

[WeazyFBaby]

I get what you’re saying but have you seen the majority of WMMA bouts? For example, the Zingano Vs Vieira fight that happened later that night. Cat has been in the top 10 for years and her defense and technique were atrocious. Heather Hardy was recently a co main for Bellator on live tv. She held belts in boxing and kickboxing and put on one of the worse fights in recent history.
Derns incompetent striking isn’t exactly new to WMMA. How good do you think her striking should be when her pro debut was less than 2 years ago???
My point is, it’s not Dern that’s stinking up the cage with her incompetent striking. It’s just WMMA.

Right but the thread is about striking...not about bad fights overall or WMMA in general. Dern has horrible striking and IMO it's worse than ronda's.

 

[Southpaw_27]

Right but the thread is about striking...not about bad fights overall or WMMA in general. Dern has horrible striking and IMO it's worse than ronda's.

Fair enough. I agree that Mackenzie Dern who just had her UFC debut is a worse striker than the former world champion with 5 title defenses. What I’m getting at is there aren’t many high level strikers in WMMA as it is. Not sure why your expectations for Derns striking was so high in the first place. Let me ask you this; would you say Derns striking is on par or worse than any other WMMA fighter that is less than 2 years into their pro careers?

 

[Readybodisready]

As horrible as her competition was and as horrible her striking was(as well as her inability to beat strikers), Ronda actually had the ability to hurt broads with strikes. That's more than 9 out of 10 WMMA can say.

 

[Franklin U.]

Dern is like a freekn bar brawler ...Id have to say Ronda

 

[Better Every Day]

Let me ask you this; would you say Derns striking is on par or worse than any other WMMA fighter that is less than 2 years into their pro careers?

I would expect it to be understandably worse than those who reached two years into their pro MMA careers with a previous (pre-MMA) background in competing in (or extensively training in) striking arts like Muay Thai, karate, kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do, boxing, etc.

Women with such backgrounds include:
Rose Namajunas
Tecia Torres
Michelle Waterson
Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Valentina Shevchenko
Angela Hill
Amanda Bobby Cooper
Joanne Calderwood
Justine Kish
Felice Herrig
Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Holly Holm
Andrea Lee

Just to name some off of the top of my head.

 

[Hard To Tell]

They both have non-existent striking skills but while Ronda may have been a one dimensional hype job, at least when it came to beating up those helpless soccer moms, she didn't mess around. Dern on the other hand has already shown in Legacy and the LFA that despite her high level Jiu-Jitsu background, she has a hard time submitting part time hobbyists from the nearby crossfit class.

 

[Adjutant]

TS,
Good question. It got me thinking. If those two fought I would have money on Dern. Yes Rhonda had a TKO win with a knee strike. But she always used strikes to set up a takedown. If they went to the ground I believe dern would wrap her up fast.

I couldn’t care less about either fighter but I would bet money for dern to win in a fight between the two

 

[Fantasy]

Who cares. I wanna see them in a loser eats pussy match.

 

[Rvd Slmr]

If they went to the ground I believe dern would wrap her up fast.

She couldn't submit half of her low level opponents but she'll destroy Rousey on the ground? Seriously? The Dern hype is so crazy that I have to defend Rousey now, WTF.

 

[Hard To Tell]

She couldn't submit half of her low level opponents but she'll destroy Rousey on the ground? Seriously? The Dern hype is so crazy that I have to defend Rousey now, WTF.

Those girls at that level aren't even full time professional fighters either and Dern had a size advantage over most of them by not even bothering to make weight. But once the UFC hype kicks in then people lose their minds and now she beast 135lb Ronda lol. Some people never learn.

 

[BigDramaShow26]

Ronda had better striking by far. Only thing I'll give Dern is she at least throws it all out there. She was throwing kicks and haymakers non stop. She has potential, but she needs at least 2-3 more years of practice before she is even decent. Her technique is awful.

Considering how good 115 is technically compared to the high divisions, I think she should take it slow. She wasn't even able to take Yoder down until late when Yoder was tired. Even a girl like Paige would probably beat Dern up pretty bad.

 

[McGeezle]

Oh fuck off. Ronda wasn't THAT bad. You idiots

 

[wirerat123]

Dern is mediocre at best. I was watching thinking "This is the next big thing?". If that's the case, we really should just shut down WMMA. I mean the woman isn't even that good looking.. She's gonna pop out one kid and have a backside the size of my car.

 

[Fergelmince]

Regardless of the boxing, Dern is definitely more fake, and fatter I might add.

 

[WeazyFBaby]

Fair enough. I agree that Mackenzie Dern who just had her UFC debut is a worse striker than the former world champion with 5 title defenses. What I’m getting at is there aren’t many high level strikers in WMMA as it is. Not sure why your expectations for Derns striking was so high in the first place. Let me ask you this; would you say Derns striking is on par or worse than any other WMMA fighter that is less than 2 years into their pro careers?

That's fair, but how many of those fighters are in the UFC? How many headline the prelims on FS1?

Again, I'm not expecting high level striking, I'm expecting competent striking.

I get the Dern has a name in the BJJ world but there is a big gap in the skills she showed and the hype and promotion behind her. I know that's not necessarily her fault, but still I wasn't impressed by anything she did in that fight, striking or otherwise.

I guess time will tell how good she will be but I just don't see it right now, WMMA is bad but getting better.

 

[knock_you_out]

Ronda's striking is better. Dern will never be champion. She didn't even have the discipline to get her body in shape for her UFC debut. After years of salivating over her photos, I was extremely disappointed that watching her first UFC fight did not give me wood.

 

[Andre Xiong]

It’s the thing to hate on RR but Rousey by miles

Rousey seemed to have a strong work ethic, Dern seems to just show up and hope her jiu jitsu carries her through mma’s shallow and thin talent pool

 

[Krouget]

Ronda's offensive striking was serviceable, at worst. Her striking defense is where she really lacked (she has a chin, though). Her combined striking was a known weakness, but not something just anyone could exploit. Outside of dedicated 135 strikers/specialists, she was scrappy, physical and powerful enough to punch her way into effective range, in order to do what she does best.

Dern? Not so much.

 

[Southpaw_27]

That's fair, but how many of those fighters are in the UFC? How many headline the prelims on FS1?

Again, I'm not expecting high level striking, I'm expecting competent striking.

I get the Dern has a name in the BJJ world but there is a big gap in the skills she showed and the hype and promotion behind her. I know that's not necessarily her fault, but still I wasn't impressed by anything she did in that fight, striking or otherwise.

I guess time will tell how good she will be but I just don't see it right now, WMMA is bad but getting better.

I would say there are quite a few with poor striking that are even on the main card of UFC events. Paige Van Zant is someone that immediately comes to mind who was recently on a main card. Sarah McMann headlined the prelims not long ago. Bethe fucking Correia was part of a main event just last year. I don't think anybody in their right mind would claim that any of these three fighters have good stand up.
Don't get me wrong, Dern's striking was below average and I don't see her getting very high (if at all) in the rankings but the point i've been trying to make is it isn't any worse than the majority of WMMA fights we see these days especially someone who is so green in the fight game.