The former (and inaugural) UFC women’s featherweight champion took to social media to inform fans of her decision, stating that she had hoped to fight one last time for the UFC, but had set a deadline of December 31, 2024.

As it turns out, the UFC did not have room for de Randamie on any of their remaining events this year.

“With so many mixed feelings I’m sharing this message with you guys,” wrote de Randamie on Thursday. “I definitely didn’t plan or envisioned/dreamed it this way, but hey it is what it is sometimes. I begged the UFC for 1 more fight. But it had to be this year. I promised myself I would retire from fighting December 31st 2024. Unfortunately the UFC told me all cards are fully booked.”

“That’s why I decided that the time is now. I really wished I could have walked the walk one more time. But I guess it was not meant to be,” she continued. “To (sic) many people to thank personally so thank you all for being a part of my journey.”

“Thank you for all the amazing memories. I’m forever grateful for all of them. Like I always say ‘DIE WITH MEMORIES, NOT DREAMS,'” she added, before signing off with “the Iron Lady has left the building.”

Germaine de Randamie launched her career in 2008 and spent much of it as a bantamweight, outside of short stints first in Strikeforce and later the UFC as a 145’er. She holds wins over current UFC champion Julianna Pena and former champ Raquel Pennington, and in 2017 defeated former bantamweight champ Holly Holm to become the first ever women’s featherweight champion in the company.

Her reign was marred by controversy. “The Iron Lady” was staunchly opposed to fighting Cris Cyborg due to the Brazilian’s history with performance enhancing drugs, despite Cyborg being the obvious challenger and fight the UFC wanted to make. She was then stripped of her title, and announced a move back to 135lbs, where she competed for the remainder of her career. In 2019, de Randamie faced then-champ Amanda Nunes for the UFC women’s bantamweight title, losing a decision.

Her final fight, a loss to Norma Dumont, took place this past April. de Randamie exits the sport with a record of 10-5; the 40-year old was also a multi-time champ in kickboxing.

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After becoming a mother, forty-year old de Randamie looked to also become a title challenger once more, starting against eleventh-ranked bantamweight Norma Dumont and her three fight winning streak. Her Dutch kickboxing style matched up with the well-rounded style of the Brazilian, but was not enough.

GDR showed her Dutch kickboxing skill from the beginning with her punishing leg kicks. However, early on after one kick she tripped and got stuck on her back after going for a leg lock when Dumont jumped on top. Germaine regained full-guard and hung out there for most of the rest of the round, not getting up, but neither did Norma do much damage. GDR stood up with ten seconds left, but got taken down again at the horn.

In the second round she defended the first few takedowns and traded knees with Dumont in the clinch. GDR got the dominant position there and began to take over, landing elbows as well. Dumont eventually escaped, but not until her stomach had been tenderized. De Randamie landed a head kick that Norma somehow survived, and the next kick offering was turned into a takedown for Dumont. GDR stifled her from full guard for the rest of the round, making her earlier damage still likely meaningful enough to have her win the second round, especially with a closing seconds armbar attempt.

After a hug, the final round started with the score likely tied. The hands of GDR were on fire early, especially her jab, but Dumont’s first shot got her down. However, Germaine was able to use the fence to get back up, but got mat returned quickly. Norma stayed in side control, doing zero damage, for two minutes until GDR tried to explode up. At that point, Dumont took her back with both hooks in. GDR cleared one hook and worked to get up against the fence, but got mat returned again and ended the round on the bottom.

The fight was close, with low margins in damage, but Dumont’s control in the first and last rounds seemed to make the decision clear. That proved true, as all three judges awarded her the win by a score of 29-28.

Official Result: Norma Dumont def. Germaine de Randamie by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

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de Randamie (10-4) will be in action on April 6, 2024 at UFC Vegas 89 in a bantamweight match-up with another ex-145lb’er, Norma Dumont (10-2). Laerte Viana was first to report news of the booking, with Dumont confirming the match-up.

The April 6 Fight Night card is the final event prior to the historic UFC 300 one week later.

Germaine de Randamie has not competed since October 2020, when she submitted Julianna Pena. The 39-year old ex-Strikeforce star has been with the UFC since 2013 but despite winning one title and challenging for a second has fought only sporadically.

“The Iron Lady” won the promotion’s now-defunct women’s 145lb title by defeating Holly Holm in 2017, but was later stripped of the belt after declining to fight Cris Cyborg, citing the latter’s history of performance enhancing drug use.

Dumont has won her last three fights, most recently winning a unanimous decision against Chelsea Chandler. The Brazilian was to have faced Yana Santos at this weekend’s UFC Vegas 84, but with Santos out of the bout, that fight was scrapped.

The UFC Vegas 89 card has two other fights reported for it, including an expected headliner between middleweights Marvin Vettori and Brendan Allen. The fights attached to the event are:

• Marvin Vettori vs. Brendan Allen
• Valter Walker vs. Łukasz Brzeski
• Germaine de Randamie vs. Norma Dumont

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Nine months or so, perhaps. On Tuesday, De Randamie, a former UFC women’s featherweight champion, announced on social media that she was pregnant.

“Woohooo we can finally scream it from the top of our lungs, ‘WE ARE PREGNANT,'” De Randamie wrote in a brief statement alongside a photo of her and her partner, Samantha. “We are blessed with our little miracle, expected March 2023.”

Germaine de Randamie announces pregnancy on IG. #UFC #MMA @IronLadyMMA pic.twitter.com/LkIHOVX5BW

— Cageside Press (@Cagesidepress) September 20, 2022

Known as “The Iron Lady,” the 38-year old De Randamie (10-4) has not been in action since an October 2020 win over Julianna Pena. The UFC’s inaugural 145lb champion among women, De Randmie’s absence of late did not go unnoticed by fans and media outlets, with UFC President Dana White deferring to the fighter after she was removed from the bantamweight rankings last year due to inactivity.

De Randamie is 6-1 across her last seven fights, and was circling another title shot before dropping out of sight. There’s a good chance that she could still mount a run at the title, after time away to start her family.

That said, two of De Randamie’s four losses as a pro have come to current UFC women’s bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes.

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McMann (13-6), who won silver at the 2004 Olympic Games in women’s freestyle wrestling, will face Aspen Ladd (9-3) at the UFC’s August 13 Fight Night event. News of the match-up was first reported by All Access MMA, after Ladd teased she had a fight coming.

Responding to the news, McMann took to social media, writing “Next opponent is Aspen Ladd on August 13!! I was expecting to fight GDR (she retired) or Raquel Pennington (she is recovering from surgery) and this fight was offered instead.”

That brought about a response from Germaine de Randamie, disputing that she had retired. Which in turn led to McMann calling for GDR to replace Ladd.

I publicly asked for this fight and heard 🦗🦗🦗I definitely want to fight @IronLadyMMA so let’s set it up if you aren’t retired. @ufc @Mickmaynard2 pic.twitter.com/7LjGGD3lk4

— Sara McMann (@Sara_McMann) May 18, 2022

A former UFC featherweight champ and bantamweight title challenger herself, de Randamie has not fought since a 2020 win over current 135 pound champ Julianna Pena.

For the time being, meanwhile, it’s McMann vs. Ladd that is in place. The women’s bantamweight bout sees Ladd looking to snap a two-fight skid, the first losing streak of her young career. Overall, she’s 1-3 in her last four fights, and has struggled with making weight at 135 pounds, which led to a featherweight fight against Norma Dumont last year.

When that didn’t go her way, Ladd returned to bantamweight against Raquel Pennington in April at UFC 273, losing her second consecutive decision.

McMann enters the fight off a win over Karol Rosa back in March. Now 41, it has been eight years since McMann challenged Ronda Rousey for bantamweight gold at UFC 170. The wrestling standout has struggled to compete with regularity, fighting just once per year from 2018 onward, and missing 2019 entirely. It looks like 2022 will at least snap that trend.

The UFC’s August 13, 2022 event does not yet have a location, venue, or broadcast plan announced. So far, a total of four fights have been reported for the card:

• Istela Nunes vs. Yazmin Jauregui
• Gerald Meerschaert vs. Bruno Silva
• Devin Clark vs. Azamat Murzakanov
• Sara McMann vs. Aspen Ladd

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During Saturday’s UFC Vegas 35 broadcast, promotion officials revealed that former women’s featherweight champ and bantamweight title challenger Germaine de Randamie (10-4) will return to the octagon against Irene Aldana (13-6) at UFC 268. The PPV card is expected to take place on November 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

de Randamie will enter the fight off a Performance of the Night bonus-winning showing against Julianna Pena in October of last year. After submitting Pena, who is currently next in line for a shot at Amanda Nunes’ 135lb title, “The Iron Lady” proceeded to sit out most of 2021. It will have been over 12 months on the sidelines by the time the Dutch fighter returns to the octagon against Aldana.

Aldana is also coming off an impressive finish in her last fight. She stopped Yana Kunitskaya via TKO at UFC 264 in July. Considered a title hopeful throughout the past couple of years, the Mexican fighter has stumbled with steps up in competition, losing key fights against Raquel Pennington and Holly Holm.

A win over an ex-champ in Germaine de Randamie, however, could finally see her arrive as a bonafide contender.

UFC 268 is expected to be headlined by a welterweight title fight, as Kamaru Usman defends his belt against Colby Covington for the second time. Another championship rematch serves as the card’s co-main event, as Rose Namajunas will run it back with Weili Zhang.

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Holly Holm/Germaine de Randamie

These two women are pretty much in the same position. The top two contenders in the bantamweight division have both had their shots at the kingpin, Amanda Nunes. Neither are all that far removed from that fight either, with one just over a year and one just under. And neither of them looked like they had much for her at the time. So has anything changed in that time? Not really, unless you count them turning away any challenger who threatens their 1-2 status. Either could really be next for Nunes after she defends her 145lbs belt against Megan Anderson, but there’s no reason for the two to wait that long. Let’s run back their 2017 featherweight title fight and clarify the picture a little more.

Their Next Fight: Each other. 

Carlos Felipe

Felipe got the win, but I doubt his stock rose all that much in the eyes of the boss. The heavyweight bout set the record (unconfirmed) for the highest amount of referee separations, and even before that exhaustion-induced style came about, the fight wasn’t all that impressive. Felipe out-landed a mostly tentative Yorgan De Castro as both men plodded their way through 15 mins. As a result, it’ll probably be another relatively inexperienced heavyweight for Felipe next time out. Later this year Parker Porter and Josh Parisian are set for a tango. Both men push forward and would undoubtedly force more action out of Felipe. The winner would be a good choice to see what he does when faced with more action. Should the pull-out monster strike, Felipe wouldn’t be a bad fill-in for either as well.

Carlos Felipe’s Next Fight: Parker Porter/Josh Parisian Winner

Kyler Phillips

While a main card win may not have done a ton for Felipe, Phillips put a complete skill set on display. His ability to mix his striking and surprisingly oppressing grappling makes him a tough out for anyone in the division. With two dominant wins, albeit against entry level fighters, Phillips deserves a big step up. He said he feels fine and would like to get back in there, so how about next week? Alejandro Perez just dropped out of his fight on October 10 with Thomas Almeida. Phillips is on Fight Island, his medicals are done, and the match-up certainly wouldn’t disappoint.

Kyler Phillips’ Next Fight: Thomas Almeida

Dusko Todorovic

Perhaps it’s lazy matchmaking, but we saw two debuting middleweights look good on Saturday. Not only did Dusko Todorovic take care of business and dominate Daquan Townsend, but earlier in the night Nassourdine Imavov put together a complete performance against a very tough Jordan Williams, showing he was more than just a sniper. Pairing the two up would allow us to see just how good that wrestling is for either fighter, while also allowing us to see Todorovic against a more refined striking game.

Dusko Todorovic’s Next Fight: Nassourdine Imavov. 

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The main event saw Holly Holm do what Holly Holm does best, use her length, via her kicks, jab, and combos, to keep Irene Aldana at bay. Finding her rhythm as the fight progressed, Holm slowly picked apart the Mexican fighter, eventually working in multiple takedowns on a fighter who had previously only been taken down twice in the UFC.

The performance, and win, didn’t earn Holm any extra cash. But Germaine de Randamie’s submission of Julianna Pena sure helped her bank account. de Randamie, the number-one ranked bantamweight in the UFC, used her kickboxing skills, as expected, and was on the way to winning a decision at UFC Fight Island 4. But when the fight went to the ground in the third, de Randamie was able to latch on to Pena’s neck with a guillotine choke. A nasty one. Pena went out, giving “The Iron Lady” a technical submission win. And for that, she earned one of four Performance of the Night awards.

A third-round submission by Germaine de Randamie was a +2300 with the oddsmakers.

No Fight of the Night was handed out Saturday. The other performance bonuses, meanwhile, went to Kyler Phillips, Dusko Todorovic, and Luigi Vendramini. Todorovic and Phillips opened the main card at the Flash Forum with back-to-back second-round TKOs, while Vendramini opened the event with a head kick that dropped opponent Jessin Ayari, before a few follow-up strikes sealed the deal.

All four fighters pick up an extra $50,000 for their finishes on Fight Island.

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Julianna Pena was looking to make a statement win against Germaine De Randamie at UFC Fight Island 4. Pena sat out in 2018 due to pregnancy, then returned in 2019 to defeat former flyweight champion Nicco Montano. Heading into the fight, Pena was 5-1 in the Octagon with the only loss coming against current flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

De Randamie, a Muay Thai champion, was 6-2 in the UFC heading into the fight with both losses coming against double-champ Amanda Nunes. De Randamie, the former featherweight champion, had three stoppage victories in the Octagon and was looking to bounce back from the second loss against Nunes.

De Randamie was light on her feet to start the fight as Pena took the center. After a 90 second feeling-out process, Pena leaned in for a punch and De Randamie countered beautifully with a right hand, dropping Pena temporarily. Pena continued to push forward and landed a right while entering the clinch. De Randamie turned it into a Muay Thai clinch and let go, cracking Pena with a jab. De Randamie wobbled Pena with a counter right hand again. Pena darted in with looping shots, but De Randamie avoided any contact. A huge right hand then connected for De Randamie and Pena responded by catching a kick and clinching De Randamie against the cage. After a 30-second clinch battle, Pena got a takedown at the bell.

Pena came out aggressive in round two, bullrushing De Randamie with a combination and cracking her with a left hand. De Randamie obliged the aggressiveness and cracked Pena in the exchange with a heavy right hand. Pena got a hold of De Randamie and tripped her away from the cage. Pena was able to pass the butterfly guard of De Randamie and got to full guard, then postured up. Punches came from the top and the bottom until Pena passed to half guard. Pena tried to secure a choke from half guard, but De Randamie spun out of it and nearly secured a Von Flue choke before the round came to a close.

🇻🇪 @VenezuelanVixen putting on the pressure to start the 2nd!#UFCFightIsland4 on ESPN pic.twitter.com/GQ4my61fAp

— UFC (@ufc) October 4, 2020

Pena tried a head kick early in round three then rushed in with a combination and connected with a pair, but De Randamie answered with a few solid shots. They reset to the center and a looping right landed for De Randamie followed by a pair of uppercuts. Pena shot in and forced a clinch against the cage and was landing knees to the body. Pena kept her pinned as they traded knees. Pena dropped down for a single leg but De Randamie countered with a guillotine choke and Pena went to sleep. A surprising submission victory for the striking expert.

🥋 Not just a striker @IronLadyMMA #UFCFightIsland4 live on ESPN pic.twitter.com/kxea3rHfIf

— UFC (@ufc) October 4, 2020

Germaine De Randamie def. Julianna Pena by Submission (Guillotine) in Round 3 (3:25)

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Former UFC featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie returns to the octagon this weekend at UFC Fight Island 4. It’s the first fight back for “The Iron Lady” since a failed title bid against Amanda Nunes last December, for bantamweight gold.

de Randamie (9-5) remains the number one ranked fighter in the 135lb weight class. But despite four of the UFC’s top six bantamweights being on the card, despite de Randamie having a chance to jump back into the title picture with a big statement, she’s treating her fight with Julianna Pena “like any other fight,” she told Cageside Press during the UFC Fight Island 4 media day this week.

“I’m here to make a statement for myself, I don’t care what they do. And you know, at the end of the day, it’s up to the UFC, they do whatever they want to do,” said Randamie, in regards to the bigger picture surrounding the women’s bantamweight division. “We can talk about rankings, but rankings don’t mean anything. I mean, with all due respect, I’m the number one ranked fighter in the world. And I’m not even the co-main event in this show.”

Rather than worry about title implications, de Randamie said simply that she just loves to fight. And she’s focused “on my fight solely and not on anybody else. And now, that’s the most important thing. I’m here to have fun. And that’s all I’m gonna do.” With that in mind, “The Iron Lady” would frankly prefer to be on the first fight of the night.

It’s been ten months since we last saw Germaine de Randamie compete. A number of factors have kept her away. One was the UFC itself, she revealed. She’d asked to return sooner, apparently to no avail. Then the coronavirus pandemic exploded. de Randamie works as a police officer, and her attention was required elsewhere.

Training wasn’t either easy. “At moments it had been very challenging,” de Randamie admitted regarding hitting the gym during COVID. Of course, being a police officer, she also came into contact with parties who might have been exposed to, or carrying, the coronavirus. “I’ve been tested a lot, have been in quarantine sometimes to wait for the test results to come back or to wait for other people, their test results to come back,” she explained.

So why carry on as a police officer then, especially as the number one ranked fighter in the world? The reason is two-fold. One might surprise you.

“If I could actually live from this, I would maybe do it. No, I don’t get paid enough to live from this honestly,” de Randamie said. A stunning admission, given her ranking in the sport. And another indictment of the sorry state of fighter pay. “And second of all, there’s more in life than just fighting. I’m 36 years old, one day, my career will end and I have to have another career because the bills have to be paid. And I love what I do. I love helping people.”

“I believe honestly, that is a part of me being in this world. And that’s a part of of my life. I just love helping people,” de Randamie continued. “I will always continue to do that. There is a life after fighting. Before and after fighting. And I don’t mind my job. For me fighting honestly is truly a hobby. And I love giving back to the community. You know, for me, it’s very important people can live free and in safety. And if I can contribute just a tiny bit to that, I’m blessed. And I will continue to do my job.”

She’ll return to her other job, hobby or not, Saturday, on the main card of UFC Fight Island 4 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The event airs on ESPN.

Watch the full UFC Fight Island 4 virtual media day scrum with Germaine de Randamie above.

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