UFC, Germaine de Randamie Comment on Women’s Featherweight Title Stripping

The UFC and Germaine de Randamie have both commented on de Randamie being stripped of the UFC Women’s featherweight title. The UFC announced on Monday that de Randamie was stripped of the title and, in a statement later in the day, announced that the reason was due to her refusal to face #1 contender Cris “Cyborg” Justino. Justino will now face Invicta FC featherweight champion Megan Anderson for the vacated title.

The UFC’s statement reads, “UFC has informed Germaine de Randamie and her management team that she is being removed as the women’s featherweight champion due to her unwillingness to fight the No. 1 ranked contender, Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino. Subsequently, top contender Justino will face newly signed Invicta FC featherweight champion Megan Anderson for the UFC women’s featherweight title in the co-main event of UFC 214; Cormier vs. Jones 2, July 29 in Anaheim, Calif.

“UFC maintains that any champion is expected to accept fights against the top contenders in their respective weight classes in order to maintain the integrity of the sport.”

For what it’s worth, the UFC doesn’t technically have official rankings for the fledgling women’s 145-pound division, so there’s no definitive pecking order or list of contenders. Additionally, UFC officials have often booked title fights – including the Conor McGregor-Nate Diaz rematch, as well as middleweight champion Michael Bisping vs. Dan Henderson – that were based more on potential PPV buys than divisional rankings.

De Randamie issued a statement to MMAjunkie which reads:

“As many of you will know, the UFC has stripped me from the belt. For those of us who do not know what that means; The UFC has unpacked my title because I refuse to fight against their number one challenger. (I have my reasons for that) It’s great to hear this news from the media and I’m sorry that it’s running, but it’s what it’s!

“Well, I hear you thinking again ‘She’s scared! What a bad champion! A shame for the sport! She did not deserve to be a champion! ” Etc .. etc .. I’ve seen it all over. But apart from what everyone thinks / finds, I’m walking my own path. And there you can agree or not.

“That I’m stripped does not mean I’m stopping. This only means that I have even more reasons to knock NOG (literally sometimes ??) for which I stand and what I want.

“The UFC is not long for me !! It’s easy to stand with the crowd. It takes Courage to stand alone???? ‘Die with memories not dreams!’”