De Randamie made it very clear after her big win in Sacramento that she isn’t interested in waiting around for double champ Amanda Nunes.
Saturday night in Sacramento saw another controversial finish for Germaine de Randamie, but at least this time the ire is being focused on the referee rather than the German fighter.
De Randamie dropped Aspen Ladd seconds into their main event fight with a powerful overhand right, prompting referee Herb Dean to step in quick as Ladd was still struggling to roll over and defend herself. No one can deny the potency of the bomb de Randamie landed.
Ladd was probably toast. But the stoppage left many feeling like they’d been robbed of a definitive finish. De Randamie certainly isn’t getting the attention she should be for tying the record for fastest women’s bantamweight knockout in UFC history. But all that hasn’t stopped her from enjoying the win. “The Iron Lady” was all smiles after the win even as the Sacramento crowd rained boos down on her during her post fight interview.
”I think it was a good stoppage because I really, really rocked her with the punch,” she said during an interview with ESPN. “Then I threw another punch and if Herb Dean wasn’t gonna step in, I was going to step in, I was going to jump on top of her and finish the fight anyways. Why do more damage? She was rocked bad. I hit her and she turned around. It was a hard punch. I’m telling you, it was a hard one. So I believe it was a good stoppage. But I’m not the referee, the referee made a decision, and yeah.”
De Randamie is now on a five fight win streak with her last loss coming all the way back in 2013 to now double champ Amanda Nunes. So that raises the question: are we going to see a rematch? Did Dana White approach her after the win?
”No, I haven’t talked to Dana, I don’t know what’s next,” she said during a post fight media scrum (video via MMA Junkie). “I did a lot of interviews so far, but I haven’t talked. I just want to hug my team right now. I don’t know and I don’t care. I know the champ wants to defend her 145 pound belt. I completely understand and respect that. So I’m not going to wait. So as soon as I’m ready to go again – I mean, I’m ready. I cannot say I’m not ready after 16 seconds, that sucks right? I’m ready to go, I’m going to go on a nice vacation then I’m ready to go.”
”I heard the UFC is going to New Zealand,” she added (which rumor has may go down in November). “I love travelling. My team loves travelling. If Amanda is going to fight and defend her 145 pound belt first, I say let’s go to New Zealand and fight before that. I’m not going to sit and wait for a title fight.”
“If Amanda decides she just got out of a fight, if she decides ‘You know, I’m going to sit out for a couple of months.’ Hey, I respect that. She should do that. But I’m not going to wait. I’m here to fight. I’m 35 years old. Like I said before, it’s now or never.”
It’s probably good that she isn’t too gung ho about a title shot, what with the unfortunate (and still confusing) situation surrounding de Randamie’s brief featherweight championship reign that ended with the UFC stripping her. She’s just two fights removed from that ugliness and we imagine the UFC still isn’t sold on “The Iron Lady” as a reliable trooper. The fact that she didn’t earn a performance bonus for her quick KO could be taken as evidence of that.
Whatever the case, Germaine seems ready to keep fighting and keep showing the world her positive side. When asked what she told Aspen Ladd in the cage after their fight, de Randamie’s answer was wholesome as heck.
”I told her she’s the future,” de Randamie said. “I just told her ‘Please, please, keep your head up. You’re the future. You will come back stronger than ever before.’ It was an honor for me to fight her. If she one day wants to do it again, we can always do it again. And I told her I understand this sucks. I’ve been in her position. I’ve lost fights that I didn’t want to fight but I lost. Especially in your home city or state … it sucks, man. But I told her ‘Please, keep your head up. You’re a true warrior.’ And I thanked her.”