Germaine de Randamie (8-3) is a former Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight champion who currently competes at bantamweight. For her next outing, the 35-year-old native of the Netherlands will face Aspen Ladd in the UFC Fight Night 155 headliner, which takes place at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, on July 13.
In the build-up to the pivotal clash, here are five things you might not know about the combatant they call “The Iron Lady.”
She is a policewoman
A mere six days after securing the featherweight title at UFC 208, De Randamie returned to her day job — working as a police officer in her hometown of Utrecht, in the Netherlands. The job entails working up to 60 hours per week, which leaves De Randamie only limited time for training. Prior to becoming a policewoman, “The Iron Lady” was employed as a psychiatric nurse.She had a successful muay Thai career
De Randamie was 15 when she started training in muay Thai as a way to lose weight. She soon fell in love with the sport and started competing professionally. “The Iron Lady” went unbeaten across 37 bouts, with 14 of those victories coming by way of knockout. Her remarkable run remains to this day, the women’s record for consecutive wins. The athlete’s accolades also include being WIKBA world champion, IMTF world champion and WPKL European champion.She has been criticized
De Randamie has garnered a reputation as a controversial fighter. At UFC 208, she narrowly defeated Holly Holm via unanimous decision to claim the inaugural featherweight championship. However, the contest was overshadowed by the shots she landed after the bell in rounds two and three.The newly-crowned champ was met with further criticism when she refused to defend her strap in what would have been her first title defence against Cristiane Justino. Her reasons for rebutting the match-up with the hard-hitting Brazilian were that she was planning to return to the bantamweight division, and that she was not prepared to face “Cyborg” due to her history of using PEDs.
Many were of the opinion that De Randamie was avoiding Cyborg, and the backlash on social media towards the Dutch pugilist was unrelenting and frequently vitriolic. Her refusal to accept the bout eventually culminated in De Randamie being stripped of her belt. “I don’t regret anything,” said De Randamie in one interview when referencing her decision not to do battle with Cyborg. “I stand for my principles …”
She once knocked out a man
De Randamie once took a boxing match versus a man who outweighed her by 40 pounds. The man rocked De Randamie early on and then laid into her with a barrage of blows against the ropes. “The Iron Lady” then retaliated with a left hook to the head which rendered her male adversary unconscious.She has faced serious injury
De Randamie had been suffering from pain in her hand for quite some time before deciding to undergo surgery on the damaged appendage in 2017. The procedure required a lengthy period of convalescence, and as a result, she pulled out of two scheduled UFC bouts.Following a nine-month absence from the sport, the now fully recovered former champion returned to action opposite Raquel Pennington in a bantamweight contest at UFC Fight Night 139 in November 2018. Although she missed weight by three pounds, De Randamie emerged victorious via unanimous decision.