Muay Thai Wrecking Machine Germaine De Randamie: Coming To MMA In A Fight Near You

Germaine De Randamie

You may not know the name Germaine De Randamie, unless you are an avid follower of women’s Muay Thai, but the Dutch striker turned mixed martial artist is hoping to change all that in 2011.

Coming out of a proud kickboxing heritage in Holland, De Randamie was no stranger to what it took to become the best striker in women’s Muay Thai.

Racking up a record of 45-0, with an incomparable amount of knockouts, while also holding a win over current Strikeforce fighter Julia Budd, De Randamie did just about all she could do in the Muay Thai world, and that’s when a light bulb clicked and she got a new idea to further her fighting career.

“I was a little bit burned out in Muay Thai, and I had many girls who said yeah they wanted to fight me and in the end they said ‘no I’m not ready, I need a few more build-up fights before I fight Jermaine.’ When I was younger I did some wrestling and I liked it. I always watch MMA,” De Randemie told MMAWeekly.com.

Watching MMA peaked her interest in the sport, and from that moment on she decided that a career change was upon her.

“I think it’s the ultimate for a woman to stand in the cage and fight another woman,” De Randamie said. “I always wanted to challenge myself and push myself to the limit. I think in MMA I’m doing that because I’ve been doing stand-up fights for so long, and now I’m doing wrestling, jiu-jitsu, boxing, stand-up, it’s so hard, but it’s a challenge. I love it.”

Like many MMA fighters however, De Randamie made a fatal error right out of the gate. She took her first bout with little to no ground experience, and when her stand-up was negated on the mat, she found herself submitted in the first round of her debut MMA fight.

That was all De Randamie needed to decide to take some time away from active competition, and get into the gym to pick up the necessary skills to compete with the best in the world of women’s MMA.

“I made a big mistake in my first fight, and I’m never going to make that mistake again,” De Randamie admitted. “I’ve got myself a good team now, and I’ve still got a lot to learn.”

Among those on Team De Randamie now are coaches that work with the U.S. Olympic boxing team and famed jiu-jitsu instructor Cesar Gracie. As a matter of fact, Gracie has been so impressed with the Dutch fighter’s skills since working with her, he’s dubbed her “the female version of Anderson Silva.”

De Randamie laughs a little when she hears that comparison because, while it is an extremely gracious compliment to share traits with the top pound-for-pound fighter in MMA, she’s happy to put the work in to validate Gracie’s claims.

“It’s an honor for me. A great jiu-jitsu teacher, a great coach in Cesar Gracie says those things about me, but like I said, I have a lot to learn. The only thing I can say is I want to be the best, and I want to compete with the best. I’ve got to work for that,” she said.

One thing that De Randamie wants to make very clear however is that she hopes to someday be called an MMA fighter and not a Muay Thai fighter trying to do MMA. Her striking will always be her bread and butter, but she wants to prove she has other tools at her disposal.

“Of course I will be known as a stand-up fighter, but I want to develop myself as a complete MMA fighter. A real martial artist,” De Randamie said.

To prove that the Dutch Muay Thai wrecking machine will look to find the right fights that will get her an opportunity to compete among the best female fighters in the world at 135 pounds, and then the world will know just who Germaine De Randamie is.

“My goal is to fight for the biggest organizations. That can be Bellator or Strikeforce, I don’t mind,” she stated. “I want to fight the top competitors one day and to be the champion of the world.”