Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Amanda Nunes and Germaine de Randami faced each other in a women’s Bantamweight clash tonight (Sat., Dec. 14, 2019) at UFC 245, which took place inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. De Randamie had a couple strong moments, but her defensive wrestling simply could not hold up to Nunes’ grappling skill.
The two traded low kicks early before Nunes dropped a right hand onto her opponent’s chin. Nunes caught a low kick and tried to fire a bomb, but it didn’t connect. Nunes swung wide, dropped down into a double leg takedown, and threw her foe to the mat. Nunes tried to drop a big right hand from within the guard, but de Randamie used that as an opportunity to jump back to her feet. Nunes tried to jump on a guillotine, but “Iron Lady” was able to escape. De Randamie worked for a Muay Thai-style clinch and held it for a moment, but Nunes used a trip to send her back to the mat. Nunes landed some hard shots from within the guard. De Randamie was not doing much with her legs from guard, which allowed Nunes to really release a torrent of punches. De Randamie covered up, allowing the Brazilian champion to pass guard and lock up an arm triangle choke. It seemed tight, but de Randamie was able to survive. Nunes nearly secured the stoppage with strikes from mount a well, but again, de Randamie was able to gut through the terrible position.
De Randamie opened the second with aggression, swinging hard on a right high kick and right hook. Nunes landed a low kick, ate a couple jabs. De Randamie absorbed a low kick and countered with a hard right hand. Two right hands connected clean for “Iron Lady.” Uppercut scored for the Muay Thai veteran. Then, Nunes changed levels and took her foe down with ease. De Randamie clung tight, hoping to draw a stand up. She got it! De Randamie looped a high kick into her foe’s dome! De Randamie charged forward and landed a hard knee to the jaw before locking up the double-collar tie and landing a couple more to the face. Controlling her foe along the fence, de Randamie framed the face and landed more knees. With about a minute remaining in the round, Nunes was able to counter the clinch with a double leg takedown. From her back, de Randamie threatened a triangle. Nunes escaped, but she really didn’t throw much offense from guard.
The champion seemed off, either fatigued or stunned.
De Randamie and Nunes traded low kicks to open the third. The Dutch striker landed a big right hand, but Nunes countered with a successful trip takedown. From half guard, Nunes was much more controlled with her offense compared to the opening round. By about the midway point, Nunes was able to gain better posture and drop some elbows. Nunes hunted for the arm triangle choke a second time, abandoned it, and scored some major elbows. De Randamie landed a hard upkick from her back, but she passed guard in the process. De Randamie used a single leg takedown to briefly regain her feet, but Nunes snapped her right back down to end a dominant third round.
More low kicks from each woman opened the championship rounds. Nunes dropped into a takedown, once again finishing her shot with a trip — De Randamie just didn’t seem to have an answer to that takedown. Nunes dropped some heavy punches from the half guard. Nunes postured up, dropped some elbows. Out of nowhere, de Randamie threw up a triangle and swept her opponent! It didn’t work, and de Randamie could have used the opportunity to stand, but she opted to throw knees instead and was tossed to her back again. The action stalled from within the guard, but Nunes controlled until the bell.
“Iron Lady” needed something big in the fifth (ideally a defended takedown).
Nunes scored another takedown just seconds into the final frame. Nunes attacked with little punches from within the guard, trying to avoid a stand up and make it to the end of this contest without any issues. Very little happened from this position, as Nunes was too tired to do much, and de Randamie didn’t really seem to know what to do. It was not an eventful end, but the result was yet another successful title defense for “Lioness!”
Result: Amanda Nunes defeats Germaine de Randamie via unanimous decision (49-44, 49-46, 49-45)
For complete UFC 245: “Usman vs. Covington” results and play-by-play, click HERE!