Grit And Grace: Makenzie Dern And The Family That Forged A Champion

Basic Information

Early life: mat-side childhood and bilingual roots

Born on March 24, 1993, in Phoenix, Arizona, Makenzie Dern grew up with one foot on sunbaked American soil and the other on the warm mats of Brazil. By the time most toddlers were learning their ABCs, she was learning armbars, starting Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu around age three under the eye of her father, Wellington “Megaton” Dias. Bilingual and bicultural, she navigated two worlds with ease, absorbing not only language but a lineage. Her stepmother, Luciana “Luka” Dias, also a black belt, sharpened the edges of her technique and discipline. This was a childhood where family dinners could pivot into drilling sessions and where the mat was both playground and classroom.

Family members and their influence

The spine of dern’s story is her family—a tight orbit that shaped her competitive destiny.

• Wellington “Megaton” Dias (father): A coral-belt legend, constant competitor, and an educator’s educator. He promoted makenzie to black belt in December 2012, a ceremonial moment that felt more like a rite of passage than a graduation. His relentless approach to competing at every age modeled a life of practice, not just performance.
• Luciana “Luka” Dias (stepmother): A BJJ black belt and steady presence at home and in the academy. Where Megaton brought fire, Luka often brought form—technique layered on repetition, encouragement layered on expectation.
• Moa (daughter): Born in 2019, she is the heartbeat of dern’s late-2010s and 2020s career. Motherhood reframed everything—training schedules, travel plans, and recovery rhythms—yet also added a charismatic purpose to her walkouts and post-fight hugs.
• Wesley Santos (former spouse): A Brazilian surfer and the father of Moa. Their marriage, and subsequent separation, threaded through public attention yet remained anchored to co-parenting and the realities of a professional fight calendar.
• Antonio Trocoli (partner): A fellow fighter who appears in media coverage and in glimpses of her training and family life. Public reports have mentioned him around personal storylines; dern has kept her focus on training and her daughter amidst the noise.

Family snapshot

BJJ to MMA: the craft becomes a career

By the time dern hit black belt, she was a known terror in the gi and no-gi circuits. Multiple IBJJF World titles and an ADCC crown built a résumé that, for many, would be a career capstone. For dern, it was a springboard. She turned professional in MMA in the mid-2010s, logged her first wins on regional stages, and signed with the UFC, debuting on March 3, 2018.

The transition was not seamless—few truly are. Weight cuts posed challenges early; the striking game required extra hours and extra humility. But the grappling advantage was undeniable. When the fight hit the floor, dern could flip a switch and turn chaos into a high-percentage sequence. In 2020, she authored a historic kneebar—one of the first leg-lock finishes recorded by a woman in UFC history—blending classic jiu-jitsu with modern MMA opportunism.

Highlights, numbers, and a crowning armbar

• Black belt promotion: December 2012.
• UFC debut: March 3, 2018.
• First child: June 2019 (Moa).
• Performance bonuses: Multiple awards, including at least one $50,000 bonus for a 2025 main-event finish.
• Signature submissions: Armbar, rear-naked choke, kneebar.

On January 11, 2025, dern headlined a UFC event and submitted Amanda Ribas with a slick armbar in their rematch—an emphatic punctuation that re-centered her strawweight ambitions. The finish earned a Performance of the Night bonus and revitalized title conversations. It also felt quintessentially dern: patient, positional, and ruthless at the moment of truth.

Style and training: pressure, posture, and patience

If striking is the overture, grappling is the symphony. Dern’s style isn’t just about submissions; it’s about making the mat feel tilted. She has the posture-breaking grip game of a career gi player and the positional IQ of a lifetime competitor. Her improvements on the feet—tighter boxing combinations, more confident kicks, better entries—have helped her set the table for takedowns and clinch work. Yet her genius remains in converting a grip into a chain, a transition into a finish. Like a locksmith, she rarely tries one key; she carries a ring and cycles through them until the door opens.

Motherhood and momentum

The birth of Moa in 2019 reframed dern’s schedule and sharpened her motivation. Training camps now include school runs, recovery sessions now compete with bedtime stories. She has spoken openly about balancing fight week intensity with family rhythms, a dual focus that gives her performances a sense of grounded urgency. The walkout is no longer just a professional entrance; sometimes it’s a mother’s parade, small footsteps trailing behind big gloves.

Financial snapshot

Public estimates place dern’s net worth in the low seven figures, driven by UFC purses, win bonuses, and performance-of-the-night awards, plus sponsorships and seminar appearances from her BJJ legacy. Exact earnings vary per event, but a single UFC performance bonus adds $50,000, and main-event slots can significantly amplify total payouts. Treat any aggregate figure as an estimate rather than a certified total.

Recent mentions and public storylines

In 2024 and early 2025, dern’s name has circulated around title-contention chatter, high-visibility training footage, and her January 2025 armbar win. Off the mat, media have reported on aspects of her personal life, including references to her partner, Antonio Trocoli, and the dynamics of co-parenting with her former spouse. Through it all, dern’s messaging has consistently drifted back to the mat: train, compete, improve.

Career timeline

The fabric of legacy

Every great competitor has a thread they’re pulling. For dern, it began with a father who never stopped competing and a stepmother who insisted on craft. It expanded into world titles stitched across continents, then into an MMA career that tests her reinvention round after round. Now it includes a child who watches from cageside with eyes wide as championship belts. The fabric holds. The pattern evolves. And the needle, still, is moving.

FAQ

Is Makenzie Dern a BJJ world champion?

Yes—she is a multiple-time IBJJF World Champion in both gi and no-gi and has also won ADCC at the elite level.

When did she make her UFC debut?

She debuted on March 3, 2018, after transitioning from a decorated BJJ career.

What is her primary fighting strength?

Grappling and submissions, especially armbars, rear-naked chokes, and opportunistic leg locks.

Did she take time off for motherhood?

Yes; her daughter, Moa, was born in 2019, and she returned to competition later that year and into 2020.

What was notable about her 2025 rematch with Amanda Ribas?

She won by armbar and collected a Performance of the Night bonus in a main-event showcase.

Who are her parents?

Her father is Wellington “Megaton” Dias, a renowned BJJ figure, and her stepmother is Luciana “Luka” Dias, a BJJ black belt.

What weight class does she fight in?

Strawweight (115 lb), with her career centered in that division.