Gillian Robertson isn’t intimidated by Mackenzie Dern’s world-class Jiu-Jitsu credentials ahead of their UFC 330 title fight.
While Dern is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished grapplers in women’s MMA history, Robertson believes the fight will be decided by MMA skills, not sport Jiu-Jitsu.
Speaking with Ariel Helwani, Robertson made it clear that she respects Dern’s accomplishments but doesn’t believe they’ll determine the outcome inside the octagon:
I’ve competed in the UFC the last nine years and I’ve been training MMA, so I’m like that’s the sport that matters to me.
Those accolades, yeah, they’re cool for Jiu-Jitsu. They don’t matter now. I don’t take anything away from her Jiu-Jitsu accomplishments, but that’s Jiu-Jitsu. And we’re competing in MMA now. And that’s where I’m going to be better.
Robertson explained that her grappling has been tailored specifically for mixed martial arts for years:
I haven’t trained “Jiu-Jitsu” Jiu-Jitsu in at least five-plus years at this point. All my Jiu-Jitsu has been MMA based.
She also believes the biggest difference between her and Dern isn’t their technical ability, but how effectively they apply their grappling under MMA rules:
She doesn’t get in deep enough on her shots. She’s not well-versed enough in her striking to set up her shots and it’s kind of reckless…
She does have good Jiu-Jitsu, like “Jiu-Jitsu” Jiu-Jitsu. She does.
I’m sure she trains with a lot of high-level girls that train Jiu-Jitsu, but they’re not elbowing her in the face like I will.