TORONTO – Gillian Robertson is ready to be confrontational with Mackenzie Dern in the days leading up to their UFC 330 title fight.
Robertson (17-8 MMA, 14-6 UFC) will get her first title opportunity Saturday when she challenges Dern (16-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC) for the strawweight belt in the co-headliner at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia (Paramount+). There's a competitive tension leading up to any fight, especially of a championship caliber, but Robertson has picked up on a few things leading up to fight night.
"Just in the media, the things she's been saying – I feel like she doesn't like me," Robertson told MMA Junkie on Monday during a media tour in Toronto. "Which I'm OK with. But I feel like she's going to be coming at me a little bit. ...
She was just saying she didn't know who I was before this matchup, that she doesn't think I have a good ground game. There's a lot of things where I really just feel she's underestimating me. I honestly don't think she's ever seen me fight before."
If Robertson, 31, is correct in her feeling about Dern's assessment, then she hopes to lean into that. Both women will be on-stage for Thursday's UFC 330 pre-fight press conference, and Robertson said she's hoping for some back-and-forth. It might not be her element, per se, but Robertson will take any advantage she can get at this point.
"I'm a little anxious about it, but I want her to be mad at me," Robertson said. "I want her to come at me aggressive. It's not like she's going to fight me harder because of something I say, or because she's angry. I just want her to fall into my traps."
No matter how Dern, 33, approaches the fight, Robertson said it's not going to change her confidence, which is already sky high. She thinks she is the most complete version of herself that's ever been in her more than nine years as a fighter, and the record amount of octagon appearances it took to get to her first crack at gold, means she's left no stone unturned.
Now it's all about going into the cage and executing, which Robertson is certain she is capable of doing.
"I just feel like the later rounds, her pressure fades, and mine never does," Robertson said. "I think we're going to really see that. It feels like it's meant to be since I started doing five-rounds. Typically in my fights I do have a slower first round, then I just get better if I go. ... I'll say third-round TKO. I just feel like the belt's already mine."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Gillian Robertson welcomes UFC 330 beef with Mackenzie Dern: 'Be mad at me'
