UFC Strawweight Mackenzie Dern opened up about her struggles with abuse during her marriage to her ex-husband in an interview with the MMA hour. Dern recently headlined UFC Las Vegas: Dern vs. Hill and beat Angela Hill convincingly for five rounds.

In the lead-up to the fight, Dern had mentioned a number of times that was dealing with a bunch of personal issues during her training camp. She mentioned that it was a “crazy” divorce and she was going to be taking a lot of frustration out on her opponent. In the end, Dern fought with a high-paced motor and was more aggressive than we've ever seen her inside the cage. Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Dern had this to say about her experience with domestic abuse.

“It's crazy for me because always want to represent someone who can stand up for themselves and can defend themselves, for all the woman out there. So to see myself in that situation was very hard.”

When asked whether she was physically abused in the relationship, Dern alleged “Yeah…for me family is the most important, so I stayed in the relationship because I believed in the family. There's a certain point where you try, and things don't change. Things got out of control.”

It's very tough to see Mackenzie Dern struggling with an issue that so many women in the world face. However, she's in a good position to inspire and be a light for those dealing with similar circumstances, so it's positive to see Dern being open about her situation and finding an outlet in her sport. Following a win as the No. 8 ranked Strawweight, Dern recently called out Rose Namajunas and will be looking to fight a top-5 opponent for her upcoming fight.

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