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Former female featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie feels no pressure ahead of her rematch against Amanda Nunes.
The original UFC women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie is giving off a relaxed vibe ahead of her rematch for the bantamweight belt, against champ Amanda Nunes, at UFC 245.
Back in November 2013, Nunes TKO’d Germaine when they first met at UFC: Fight for the Troops 3. However, in an interview with Combate, the ‘Iron Lady’ recently revealed that she feels no pressure coming into this second fight—since the ‘Lioness’ is the one putting her title on the line, and is the only one of the two athletes with something to lose.
“My preparation was great. My weight is at its lowest ever. I’m in great shape. To be here is already a victory to me, especially when there’s a belt on the line. No matter what happens, when I make that walk on Saturday, I’ll have already won. I’m the underdog, I’m at ease and have nothing to lose. Only Amanda has something to lose.”
Although Germaine was bested by Amanda six years ago, the former 145 champ still believes she is the best match for Nunes at the moment. In fact, de Randamie says the fight was supposed to have happened before, right after the ‘Iron Lady’ defeated Holly Holm, in February 2017.
“I think I fought my way to earn a title shot. I think I’m the best challenger possible for Amanda. Today, I’m the toughest fight there is for her. When the UFC called me, they wanted me to fight Amanda at featherweight, and I told them I would not fight in that division. I didn’t lose it. It was the UFC who made me lose my belt. Amanda and I were supposed to fight right after I beat Holly Holm. That was the deal, a bantamweight fight. The fight was supposed to happen at bantamweight because Amanda wasn’t the featherweight champion yet. That’s why I didn’t take the featherweight fight. It had to happen at bantamweight, like it was previously planned.”
Since that loss to Nunes, de Randamie (9-3) has gone unbeaten. The 35-year-old has scored five straight wins, beating Larissa Pacheco, Anna Elmose, Holly Holm, Raquel Pennington and Aspen Ladd.
Now, she is expected to take on Amanda Nunes for the female bantamweight title at UFC 245, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 14. The card will also feature two more title fights: a welterweight battle between champion Kamaru Usman and former interim champion Colby Covington, and a featherweight title bout between title holder Max Holloway and top contender Alexander Volkanovski.