Germaine De Randamie made UFC history at UFC 208 when she defeated former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm by decision to become the first ever UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship.
In her post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, De Randamie said she had to get hand surgery soon, which some perceived as a way to run from a fight with Cyborg.
“Absolutely not, I don’t regret a thing of that because, you know, the thing is that I said that I needed surgery on my hand, and that’s the inevitable,” de Randamie said on The MMA Hour. “I’ve never said, do I have to have the surgery right now? I’m I going to have permanent damage if I fight again? That’s something I need to evaluate with my doctor. I apologize, I truly apologize for not making that clear, but I don’t run away from anybody. I knew Cyborg was there, and Cyborg is still in there. There is no reason for me to run, everybody is beatable, and it would be an honor for me to fight such a great champion in Cris ‘Cyborg.’ I’m not running, but at this point I do believe Holly [Holm] deserves the rematch.”
Holm has stated after the fight that she wants a rematch with the champion, and has even appealed the loss. As far as Cyborg goes, De Randamie wants it to be known that she’s not running from the Invicta Fighting Championship's Featherweight title holder, but wants to fight Holm first.
“I completely understand that people want to see that [Cyborg] fight and that’s probably going to happen, but I first have to fight Holly to clear everything up,” de Randamie explained. “I think she deserves the rematch. I mean, a few weeks ago, it was still unclear if ‘Cyborg’ was going to fight anytime soon with the USADA thing going on, but I hear she’s clear, you know. I mean, if the fight is going to happen, is going to happen anyways but right now, I truly believe that Holly deserves it first so that we can settle things.”
Cyborg is currently undefeated in UFC competition, defeating both Leslie Smith and Lina Lansberg.
