The move from kickboxing to mixed martial arts was never going to be easy for Germaine de Randamie, and despite two losses in her first five fights, she got the UFC call, as much for her potential as anything. She remains a work in progress, but captured her first octagon win at UFC on FOX 8, edging Julie Kedzie in a split-decision at Seattle’s Key Arena.
The judges scored it 30-27, 29-28, 28-29.
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de Randamie showed off her striking pedigree at various times, landing the fight’s cleanest strikes — 82 overall, according to FightMetric.
But her green ground game also showed, as Kedzie was able to take her down twice and control her on the ground. de Randamie was able to stop Kedzie from getting off any real offense from the position, and that allowed her to pull off the win.
Kedzie had her best chance in the second, when she drove in for a takedown two minutes into the round. She held de Randamie on the mat for the duration of the round, but could never get past half-guard and landed few impactful strikes.
de Randamie (4-2) has now won two straight while Kedzie’s loss drops her into a three-fight losing streak, making her 16-12.