From start to finish, Germaine De Randamie’s title reign has been a complete mess…
When ‘Iron Lady’ Germaine De Randamie was nooked to face Holly Holm at UFC 208, a lot of eyebrows were raised. It wasn’t an issue of matchmaking, more the fact they were fighting for the inaugural women’s featherweight title.
More deserving, accomplished and respected in the game is Cris Cyborg. Arguably the greatest women’s featherweight who ever fought joined the UFC last year, but things didn’t go her way from the jump.
After today’s crazy events, it looks like the shoe is now on the other foot, as Germaine De Randamie has been unceremoniously stripped of the belt. Sadly for GDR, the UFC didn’t even tell her before yanking the belt:
Germaine De Randamie Found Out On Twitter…But It Gets Worse
“I had absolutely no idea that I was being stripped of the belt. I found out through social media. Cyborg (Justino) is going to fight Megan (Anderson) for the belt.”
“Nobody ever told me anything about it.” via MMAFighting.com.
In a highly controversial and, frankly, ridiculous moment, the UFC tweeted then deleted the announcement that Cyborg and Megan Anderson had been booked to fight for the title and GDR was stripped.
Chek it out:
More Details Below
So, had the UFC spoken to De Randamie about fighting Cyborg? According to her manager, yes:
“Germaine and her team have talked, and the position is that she will not fight Cyborg because Cyborg is a known and proven cheater,” de Randamie’s manager Brian Butler told MMA Fighting. “Even after so much scrutiny has been put on Cyborg, she still managed to pop for something and will always be a person of suspicion who is trying to beat the system rather than just conforming to the rules.
“For that reason, Germaine and her team don’t believe that Cyborg should be allowed to compete in the UFC at all. If that is the only fight the UFC wants, then Germaine is willing to wait and see if the UFC will strip her belt before making her next move.”
But, there seems to be a gap where she had shown unwillingness to fight Cyborg, but was never actually given the ultimatum. In light of all the recent money fights, check out the UFC’s hilariously contradicting statement below:
UFC Statement
“UFC has informed Germaine de Randamie and her management team that she is being removed as the women’s featherweight champion due to her unwillingness to fight the No. 1 ranked contender, Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino. Subsequently, top contender Justino will face newly signed Invicta FC featherweight champion Megan Anderson for the UFC women’s featherweight title in the co-main event of UFC 214; Cormier vs. Jones 2, July 29 in Anaheim, Calif.
“UFC maintains that any champion is expected to accept fights against the top contenders in their respective weight classes in order to maintain the integrity of the sport.”
