Germaine De Randamie Says She’s Returning To Bantamweight Division

The MMA world has neither seen nor heard from UFC women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie since she revealed she would need hand surgery immediately after her highly controversial championship win over Holly Holm in the main event of February’s UFC 208.

Today (Mon. May 29, 2016), however, de Randamie has finally broken the silence about her unwillingness to fight Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino, the consensus top female featherweight in the world and the woman whom many feel is by far the most dominant force in all of women’s MMA. A fight with Cybrorg seems like a no-brainer for de Randamie, yet “The Iron Lady” revealed on her official Instagram account (via MMA Mania) that there were too many issues with drug testing to face Justino:

Dear All,

It’s been a while since I posted something. But because of the commotion that I have come to feel, I feel the need to hear something from me and to clear the air (as far as possible). It is absolutely not so that everything that is said makes me do nothing. Also, I am a human being and I also have feelings. Despite the fact that I’m always positive, the comments make me more than I had hoped. The positive but also the negative.

The fight between me and Chris Cyborg was offered to me last November. Even then, I had all my reservations but I accepted the fight. Chris Cyborg has rejected the fight because she could not get the weight of 66 kilos in twelve weeks time. One month later, she was visited by the USADA and did not pass the test. The rest of the story is known.

My reason for rejecting the fight now has nothing but nothing at all to do with my fear.

I believe that if you want to do sports you do this without any means that can affect the muscle mass. I – as a top athlete – always trained, always watched my food and put 18 years of my life on sports, without using just one means that is not allowed.

Everyone has his or her opinion on this and that may. But that people think to know what my motives are / do not put me in the cold clothes.

With that announcement, the already uncertain UFC women’s featherweight landscape, which was only just created this year when de Randamie fought Holm for the inaugural title, is even more uncertain, but de Randamie issued yet another post that made it even more so – if that’s even possible.

In the second, she teased that not only would she not fight Cyborg, but she was returning to her original division of women’s bantamweight after having her hand examined:

I work full time and irregularly, which takes a lot of time. In addition, there is still a lot of unclear about my hand. I have an appointment with the doctor on 14 June, and it will be decided whether or not to be operated. This option should also be considered for me because there is a great chance that my tendons / nerves can cause such damage that I could not use my hand more optimally.

During the negotiations on the battle with Holly Holm, I said in advance that after this fight I want to return to my natural weight class of 61 kilos. My task has not been completed yet

The UFC has promised me that this would be no problem and I can just return to my natural weight class.

This is why I am focusing on this moment.

When I fell in love with the martial arts 18 years ago, I had 1 goal. Share my great love with others who have the same love for martial arts as me !! This is my goal and will always remain my goal.

I want to thank everybody who has always stood before me and still support me through thick and thin !! You guys rock.

For all the haters; Two Baths !! “The IronLady” is far from done

So de Randamie is on the sidelines with her return more unclear than ever, and the 145-pound picture is only further clouded by the UFC’s decision to wait on the “Very serious” case of Cyborg punching strawweight Angela Magana at last weekend’s UFC fighter retreat.

If Justino is indeed cleared, she’s lobbied for a fight with Invicta FC featherweight champ Megan Anderson at UFC 214 near her adopted American home.

One thing is certain, however – she won’t be fighting the actual champion, who’s maintained quite possibly the strangest start to a title reign of any UFC champion in MMA history.