Germaine de Randamie’s title reign as the first women’s featherweight championship will certainly go down as one of the most cotroversial in UFC history. After defeating Holly Holm for the newly-created division at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, “The Iron Lady” made it perfectly clear that she would not fight fellow 145-pounder Cris “Cyborg” Santos, citing […]
Germaine de Randamie’s title reign as the first women’s featherweight championship will certainly go down as one of the most cotroversial in UFC history.
After defeating Holly Holm for the newly-created division at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, “The Iron Lady” made it perfectly clear that she would not fight fellow 145-pounder Cris “Cyborg” Santos, citing the Brazilian’s past and present problems testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.
Being that the UFC essentially created the division for “Cyborg”, de Randamie’s refusal to defend her belt against the clear-cut number one contender forced the UFC’s hand in stripping her of the belt.
De Randamie spoke about being stripped of the belt for the first time via Instagram this week.
“As many of you will know, the UFC has stripped me from the belt,” de Randamie wrote. “For those of us who do not know what that means; The UFC has unpacked my title because I refuse to fight against their number one challenger. (I have my reasons for that). It’s great to hear this news from the media and I’m sorry that it’s running, but it’s what it is!
“Well, I hear you thinking again ‘She’s scared! What a bad champion! A shame for the sport! She did not deserve to be a champion!”, etc, etc. I’ve seen it all over. But apart from what everyone thinks, I’m walking my own path. And there you can agree or not.”
However, de Randamie did say that the incident will affect her career as a fighter.
“That I’m stripped does not mean I’m going to stop,” de Randamie said. The UFC is not long for me! It’s easy to stand with the crowd. It takes courage to stand alone.”
“Cyborg” will instead face up-and-comer Megan Anderson for the vacated belt at UFC 214. Prior to the creation of the women’s featherweight division, “Cyborg” had fought her first two UFC bouts at a catch weight of 140 pounds.
The New York State Athletic Commission denied Holly Holm’s request to appeal her loss against Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208.
“After a review of the video footage of the bout, the New York State Athletic Commission determined that there wa…
The New York State Athletic Commission denied Holly Holm’s request to appeal her loss against Germaine deRandamie at UFC 208.
“After a review of the video footage of the bout, the New York State Athletic Commission determined that there was no clear error or violation of statute or rule by Referee Todd Anderson,” an NYSAC official told Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting. “Therefore, the scoring and outcome of the bout will not be modified.”
Holm protested the outcome after De Randamie struck her following the bell in both the second and third rounds. Anderson didn’t immediately separate the fighters and didn’t deduct any points from De Randamie for the late blows.
Holm addressed the late blows immediately after the fight:
De Randamie, meanwhile, disputed any notion that she fought dirty.
“I never threw any dirty shots,” she said, per Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting. “I never threw any cheap shots around the referee. As soon as he stepped in and put his arm in, I stopped. Of course, I try to hear the bell and stop, but sometimes when you’re in the heat of the moment you’re in the fight. You get hit, you hit somebody.”
“It was never intentional. That’s what upsets me so much,” she added. “People try to say I’m a dirty fighter. I’m not a dirty fighter. It really hurts me when people say that. I never had any bad intentions. I truly respect Holly. I respect the UFC. I respect Holly’s camp.”
De Randamie, who won the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight championship, did offer to give Holm a rematch after the fight. While nothing has been set in stone, Holm is 0-3 since beating Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 and is unlikely to get a higher-profile fight than a rematch with De Randamie.
“We respect their decision and will not seek anything further, except a rematch from Germaine,” Holm’s agent Lenny Fresquez told MMA Fighting following the NYSAC decision on Tuesday.
Given all the drama already surrounding the first bout, the UFC certainly wouldn’t have any difficulty marketing a rematch.
Cris Cyborg feels that she is the true pound-for-pound best female mixed martial artist in the world, and she has the stats to back it up. Justino was in attendance during this past weekend’s (Sat. February 11, 2017) inaugural women’s featherweight title bout between Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208, and is
Cris Cyborg feels that she is the true pound-for-pound best female mixed martial artist in the world, and she has the stats to back it up.
Justino was in attendance during this past weekend’s (Sat. February 11, 2017) inaugural women’s featherweight title bout between Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie at UFC 208, and is likely to challenge the new Dutch champ after her unanimous decision win over ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’.
During a recent interview with FOX Sports, Cyborg stated that regardless of who is currently holding the title at 145 pounds, mixed martial arts (MMA) fans know who the true champion of the division is:
“ESPN and FOX Sports both have me ranked No. 1 pound-for-pound in women’s mixed martial arts. I haven’t lost in 10 years,” Cyborg said. “Until someone beats me I am No. 1 in the world no matter what belt is around my waist.”
The UFC’s original plans preferred Cyborg to be a part of the inaugural 145-pound title contest this past weekend, but the Brazilian knockout artist turned the bout down on multiple occasions due to the inability to make weight on time. Now Justino finds herself in a battle with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for a potential violation.
While in attendance at the Barclays Center this past weekend and watching De Randamie take home the featherweight crown, however, Justino was not disappointed that she was cage-side rather than inside the Octagon for the historic moment; but happy that the division has finally found its way to the UFC:
“I was not ready to fight Feb.11th. Germaine is a great fighter and a win over Holly only helps increase her star power,” Cyborg said. “It wasn’t disappointing to be sitting cage side, I was excited because the UFC has made the division. I am ranked No. 1 in the world at 145-pounds and feel confident the fans know that too.”
Photo by Ed Mulholland for USA TODAY Sports
De Randamie took home a controversial unanimous decision win over Holm after delivering late punches after the horn that signaled the round’s end, on two separate occasions. The referee failed to deduct a point from ‘The Iron Lady’ for the late shots, and given that each judge scored the contest 48-47 for De Randamie, the contest could have arguably ended in a draw had a point been taken.
As for how Cyborg had the bout scored, she believes the judges made the right decision in giving the former muay thai champ the nod:
“I had Germaine de Randamie winning. It was a close fight but the damage done by significant strikes by de Randamie made the difference in my opinion,” Cyborg said. “Holly needed to chain her wrestling transitions better to get that takedowns.”
After the contest De Randamie claimed she will need some time off to get surgery on her injured hand before making her first title defense. Cyborg is happy to give the featherweight champ the time she needs to recover, and already has an opponent in mind that she’d like to step into the Octagon with next to keep her busy:
“I am ready to enter fight camp now. If [de Randamie] is injured and can’t fight I would like a chance to fight Megan Anderson,” Cyborg said. “She is an interim champion for the belt I own and calling out fighters in the UFC.
“It only makes sense if [de Randamie] is not ready to fight that the UFC would offer her a contract and a chance to fight me on the biggest stage, inside the UFC octagon. I think it would be a great addition to the June event in Rio if she’s ready to fight.”
When asked why she turned down the two opportunities to compete for the inaugural featherweight title before, Cyborg revealed that her body was not ready to go through another vigorous weight cut so soon once again:
“I needed to give my body time to recover from my past two weight cuts. I’ve given my body a proper off season allowing it to recover and am ready to start training camp soon,” Cyborg said.
“My USADA situation is still ongoing and at this time I have no comment, but am hopeful my lawyer and doctors will resolve this and are cooperating fully with USADA.”
“Let’s go champ,” Cyborg said.
Do you think Cyborg will win her case against USADA? Who do you think we’ll see her fight next upon her Octagon return?
The New York State Athletic Commission denied Holly 
Do you think Cyborg will win her case against USADA? Who do you think we’ll see her fight next upon her Octagon return?