Amanda Nunes, arguably the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all-time, will look to build on her legacy when she defends the UFC bantamweight championship against Germaine de Randamie at UFC 245 in December, according to ESPN.
Cris Cyborg was in line for a rematch with Nunes after getting knocked out in the first round of their super fight last December. Instead, the women’s MMA phenom is on her way to a “secret company” later this month. In Cyborg’s place will be de Randamie, a fighter with whom Cyborg has a history. After defeating Holly Holm in the inaugural featherweight championship fight in 2017, de Randamie was stripped of the belt just three months later for refusing to defend the belt against Cyborg. She opted against having this fight and alleged that Cyborg is a “known and proven cheater,” per her manager.
Now, de Randamie gets a shot at the only woman in the last 13 years to defeat Cyborg in Nunes. The fight with Nunes is a rematch from their 2013 bout, when the champ took de Randmie to the ground in the first round and end her night with a ref stoppage via ground-and-pound.
“I’m not that fighter anymore and Amanda is not that fighter anymore too,” de Randamie said, via MMA Fighting back in July. “I believe this is going to be a way different fight. I’m not that easy to takedown anymore, in that fight I was easy to take down, but now I’m not that easy to takedown. I know Amanda is a great champion and I know this would be a great matchup,”
De Randamie is coming off an impressive first-round TKO against the previously unbeaten Aspen Ladd. Nunes finished off Holm in the first round of her last title defense, and she’s defended the bantamweight title four consecutive times without a loss.
