Not just a striker @IronLadyMMA
#UFCFightIsland4 live on ESPN pic.twitter.com/kxea3rHfIf— UFC (@ufc)
October 4, 2020
Germaine
de Randamie has always been known for her standup acumen.
In addition to her MMA bouts, the Dutchwoman owns an impressive
46-0 record in kickboxing, which means that most UFC opponents
won’t want to stand and trade with her. That was again the case at
UFC on ESPN 16, where Julianna
Pena did her best to ground “The Iron Lady” at any
opportunity.
While that worked well early in the bantamweight bout, Pena paid
the price for her strategy in Round 3, when de Randamie trapped her
in a guillotine following a takedown and choked “The Venezuelan
Vixen” unconscious. It was the first submission victory of de
Randamie’s 14-bout MMA career.
“I said before this fight to my coaches, either I’ll get this
guillotine—because if you give me your neck, I’m going to put you
to sleep—or I’m going to knock her out,” de Randamie said. “I felt
really sloppy. I didn’t feel loosened up, but she gave me her neck
and I put her to sleep. That’s how it goes.
“When my arms sank in, I told the referee she was out. I felt her
go out.”
It was a solid bounce back effort for de Randamie following a loss
to Amanda
Nunes in a title bout at UFC 245, where she was grounded
repeatedly by the reigning champion in a five-round unanimous
decision defeat.
“I surprised myself. It was a bit sloppy, but it’s all part of the
deal. I got the victory and did it by submission,” she said. “It’s
funny because my in last fight my opponent took me down and made it
boring. Now, I did what I had to do and finished it.”
De Randamie remains one of the top fighters in the division, but
she knows that a rematch with Nunes probably isn’t the promotion’s
first choice. For now, she’ll simply be satisfied serving as a
daunting roadblock for other title contenders.
“I’ll fight whoever. I just want to fight entertaining fights
against people who come to fight. That’s all I want,” she said.
“I’m still the number one. It doesn’t matter what happens tonight,
that winner has to face me before they face Amanda
Nunes. I’m the No. 1 contender. Let Amanda
Nunes enjoy her family. You’ve got to face me.”
And for those like Pena who taste De Randamie’s power on the feet
and elect to try and take the fight to the canvas? The kickboxer
might just have a surprise in store.
“I’m a kickboxer and they all want to take me down,” she said. “If
you take me down, I choke you out.”