UFC fighter Mackenzie Dern, 26, reveals she lost 20,000 followers on Instagram in minutes after announcing her pregnancy
A UFC fighter has revealed she lost 20,000 Instagram followers in a matter of minutes after announcing her pregnancy.
Before she was a mum, Mackenzie Dern, 26, was undefeated in seven MMA fights and impressively won two matches at the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2018.
In February this year, the professional fighter announced that her and her professional surfer husband Wesley Santos were expecting their first child.
Sharing the happy news on Instagram, Mackenzie wrote: “God makes everything so perfect! 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!”
However, the new mum – who gave birth to her daughter Moa in June – told that she lost a whopping 20,000 followers after making the heartwarming announcement.
Mackenzie said: “I lost 20,000 fans when I said I was pregnant and posted the first picture of my husband.”
But ahead of her return to the ring on Sunday – just four months after giving birth – the mum added: “After Moa was born, I gained like 20,000 back.”
The California-based mum – who is a black belt in Jiu-Jistu – now has an impressive 705,000 followers and believes that becoming a mother has won her a new legion of fans.
She continued: “I think it’s a new and different type of public. Maybe I have more mums following me now. Maybe they’re inspired by the story.”
Discussing her upcoming fight this weekend, Mackenzie admitted that she had to convince the UFC to let her return four months after giving birth.
She continued: “Of course, the first couple of weeks, I was strung to punch and everything was slow and wiggling around.
“The hardest pat, honestly, was to get the UFC to let me fight. They were like ‘No, it’s too soon. You can get injured’.
“But I was like, ‘C’mon, guys. I can do it.'”
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