Tag: Germaine de Randamie

Former UFC champion Germaine de Randamie targeting Q4 2023 return after giving birth

Former UFC champ Germaine de Randamie is gearing up for a late 2023 return after a three-year layoff and giving birth to her son.

A former UFC women’s featherweight champion [autotag]Germaine de Randamie[/autotag] is targeting a return to MMA later this year after giving birth.

Last September, De Randamie (10-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC), along with her partner Samantha, announced she was pregnant and would naturally take time away from fighting. De Randamie gave birth to their son Isaiah on March 20. After enjoying the beginning of motherhood, the former champion is training for a comeback to the cage.

“We are full in training and I don’t have a date yet, but we are going for November or October, end of October or November,” De Randamie told UFC Eurosport (translated by YouTube). “I’m feeling good, I’m waiting for the call right now. My manager is negotiating, so we’ll see, but 2023 it will be anyway.”

De Randamie, 39, was last in action at UFC on ESPN 16 in October 2020, when she submitted Julianna Pena in the third round of their bantamweight bout. She earned the second Performance of the Night bonus of her career for the finish, which marked a return to the win column after a bantamweight title challenge loss to then-champion Amanda Nunes. She was booked to fight Irene Aldana over a year later, but had to withdraw due to injury.

The Dutch fighter says her newborn son has lit a new fire inside her, and she wants to make him proud in her return. De Randamie has no preference for an opponent, nor did she specify which weight class she will compete in. However, she admits getting back into the groove of training after her lengthy layoff has been hard.

“I have to say very honestly after three years it is tough because I am also getting older by the day,” De Randamie said. “My body feels that, but there is a fire burning in me. You can no longer take that figure away, and especially now that I have become a mother, I fight with a different goal: my little man. I want to make him proud. … So in the end, whoever is in front of me, it will be them or me, that’s one thing for sure.”

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Former UFC champ Germaine de Randamie announces pregnancy

Don’t expect to see Germaine de Randamie in the UFC anytime soon as she and her girlfriend are expecting their first baby together.

Don’t expect to see [autotag]Germaine de Randamie[/autotag] inside the octagon anytime soon. She’s got something big on the horizon.

De Randamie, a former UFC women’s featherweight champion, announced Wednesday on Instagram that she is pregnant. De Randamie, 38, and her girlfriend, Samantha, are expecting their first baby together in March 2023.

“We can finally scream it from the top of our lungs,” De Randamie wrote. “We are PREGNANT. We are blessed with our little miracle.”

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De Randamie (10-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) hasn’t competed since UFC on ESPN 16 in October 2020, when she choked out Julianna Peña in the third round of their 135-pound bout and picked up a Performance of the Night bonus for her effort.

De Randamie won the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight title in February 2017 when she beat Holly Holm by unanimous decision at UFC 208. De Randamie’s only two losses in the UFC came against former UFC double champion Amanda Nunes, both at bantamweight.

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Best fight bookings of 2021 that got away due to injuries, COVID-19, and more

Check out these incredible matchups in 2021 that fell through due to various issues outside of the cage.

2021 was a year filled with fight cancellations and rescheduling due to various factors.

On top of unfortunate injuries that occurred in training camp that caused fights to fall apart, health and safety protocols due to COVID-19 led to a number of scheduling issues throughout the year.

From title fight rematches, top contender bouts, highly-anticipated returns, to numerous undercard bouts, the full story of 2021’s year in MMA cannot be told without looking back on some of the biggest matchups that did not make it to the cage.

Take a look below at some of the biggest pairings and why they did not go ahead as planned (in order of scheduled date).

Germaine de Randamie injured, out of UFC 268 bout against Irene Aldana

Former title challenger Germaine de Randamie has been forced out of UFC 268.

Former featherweight champion [autotag]Germaine de Randamie[/autotag] has been forced out of UFC 268.

De Randamie (10-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) has withdrawn from her pivotal bantamweight clash with [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] on Nov. 6 due to an undisclosed injury. It is unknown whether or not Aldana (13-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) will remain on the card.

A person with knowledge of the matchup confirmed the news to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement. The news of de Randamie’s withdrawal was first reported by ESPN Deportes.

After falling short in her title quest against reigning UFC bantamweight champion and current dual-champ Amanda Nunes, de Randamie rebounded with a third-round “Performance of the Night” submission of current title challenger Julianna Pena in October. The Dutch-born fighter has won six of her past seven, including capturing the inaugural featherweight title against Holly Holm in 2017, which she was later stripped of.

Mexico’s Aldana was looking to earn her first-career title shot. The 33-year-old has won six of her past eight and is coming off a first-round TKO of Yana Kunitskaya at UFC 264 in July, a bout which she came in three-and-a-half pounds over.

The UFC 268 lineup currently includes:

  • Champion Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington – for welterweight title
  • Champion Rose Namajunas vs. Zhang Weili – for women’s strawweight title
  • Michael Chandler vs. Justin Gaethje
  • Luke Rockhold vs. Sean Strickland
  • Frankie Edgar vs. Marlon Vera
  • Bobby Green vs. Al Iaquinta
  • Irene Aldana vs. TBA
  • Nassourdine Imavov vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
  • John Allan vs. Aleksa Camur
  • Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. TJ Laramie
  • Andreas Michailidis vs. Alex Pereira
  •  Shane Burgos vs. Billy Quarantillo
  • Ian Garry vs. Jordan Williams

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Rose Namajunas vs. Zhang Weili 2 among latest additions to official UFC 268 card

UFC 268 is officially on tap for New York City – and the card is already stacked.

UFC 268 is officially on tap for Nov. 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York City – and the card is filling up with notable names.

On the UFC on ESPN 30 broadcast Saturday, the promotion made the previously reported welterweight title fight rematch between champion [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] (19-1 MMA, 14-0 UFC) and [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] (16-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) official.

It won’t be the only title fight rematch, however, as a second meeting between women’s strawweight champion [autotag]Rose Namajunas[/autotag] (10-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and the woman she took the title from, [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] (21-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC). The two most recently competed against one another at UFC 261 in April when Namajunas dropped Weili with a head kick and finished the fight with strikes.

Two other fights that were not previously announced were announced Saturday by the promotion as well. A women’s bantamweight contender fight between [autotag]Germaine de Randamie[/autotag] (10-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and [autotag]Irene Aldana[/autotag] (13-6 MMA, 6-4 UFC) as well as a lightweight fight between [autotag]Al Iaquinta[/autotag] (14-6-1 MMA, 9-5 UFC) and [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] (27-12-1 MMA, 12-8-1 UFC) are on tap, too.

With the additions, the UFC 268 lineup now includes:

  • Champion Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington – for welterweight title
  • Champion Rose Namajunas vs. Zhang Weili – for women’s strawweight title
  • Michael Chandler vs. Justin Gaethje
  • Luke Rockhold vs. Sean Strickland
  • Frankie Edgar vs. Marlon Vera
  • Nassourdine Imavov vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
  • Irene Aldana vs. Germaine de Randamie
  • Al Iaquinta vs. Bobby Green

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Twitter Mailbag: Will we ever see Jorge Masvidal vs. Colby Covington?

A fight between Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal makes sense on multiple levels. Will we see it? Nolan King answers this and more in his Twitter Mailbag.

Questions on your mind about recent happenings in the UFC or the sport of MMA in general? MMA Junkie’s Twitter Mailbag is here – and this week @mma_kings answers:

  • Are we ever going to see [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] or not?
  • How would former UFC strawweight champion [autotag]Rose Namajunas [/autotag] fare against current flyweight champion [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag]?
  • How could the controversial finish of Tuesday’s DWCS bout between [autotag]JP Buys[/autotag] and [autotag]Jacob Silva[/autotag] have been handled better?

Watch the video above for answers to those questions.

To ask a question of your own, follow @MMAjunkie on Twitter and let us know.

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Twitter Mailbag: Will Conor McGregor win another UFC championship?

Will Conor McGregor ever win another UFC belt? What happens if he loses to Dustin Poirier? MMA Junkie readers have questions and Nolan King has answers.

Questions on your mind about recent happenings in the UFC or the sport of MMA in general? MMA Junkie’s Twitter Mailbag is here – and this week it’s @mma_kings to answer:

  • Will [autotag]Conor McGregor [/autotag]ever hold another UFC championship?
  • If Conor loses to [autotag]Dustin Poirier[/autotag], is that the end of his days at 155?
  • Should [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] and [autotag]Germaine de Randamie[/autotag] fight for an interim title?

Those are answered in the video above.

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Who’s next for Irene Aldana after Holly Holm loss? | UFC on ESPN 16 matchmaker

MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn plays matchmaker and looks ahead to what makes sense for Irene Aldana in this edition of “Sean Shelby’s Shoes.”

MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn plays matchmaker and looks ahead to what makes sense for Irene Aldana in this edition of “Sean Shelby’s Shoes.”

UFC on ESPN 16 results: Germaine de Randamie chokes out Julianna Pena in third

Germaine de Randamie scored the first submission win of her career, while also serving notice she’s still a major factor.

[autotag]Germaine de Randamie[/autotag] made a statement Saturday night: She’s still a major player at 135 pounds.

The former women’s featherweight champion was coming off a loss in a bantamweight title shot against champion Amanda Nunes, and she showed she’s still very much a factor with a third-round technical submission of Julianna Pena during the main card of UFC on ESPN 16.

A tight guillotine choke put an end to things at the 3:25 mark of the third round in a back-and-forth fight, as de Randamaie (10-4 MMA, 7-2 UFC) got her first career submission victory.

“I felt sloppy and very stiff, but I tell everybody if you give me your neck, I’ll put you to sleep. Yeah. Hell yeah,” de Randamie said.

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The opening round saw de Randamie use her size and reach advantage to maximum effect, as she blasted Pena (9-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) with overhand rights whenever Pena tried to close the distance – until near round’s end, that is, as Pena closed the distance and scored a trip off the clinch.

That gave Pena confidence going into Round 2 as she started aggressive, pushed forward, scored with a big flurry and set the tone for the round. Pena, the “TUF 18” winner, eventually scored a takedown and spent most of the rest of the round in top position, although there, too, GDR’s length advantage kept her from absorbing much in the way of head trauma.

Pena started aggressive once again in Round 3, but this time de Randamie answered the call, as she re-implemented those looping rights. Pena eventually closed the distance and got the clinch but this time, de Randamie got the best of things. She sank in a tight guillotine and had to signal to referee Jason Herzog that her opponent was out. Pena could be seen twitching by the time things were waved off, though she was back on her feet in time for the announcement of de Randamie’s win.

De Randamie’s fifth career stoppage win was her sixth victory in her past seven fights. Pena has dropped two of three.

The women’s bantamweight bout was part of the UFC on ESPN 16 main card at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi. It aired on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.

Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 16 results include:

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