'Cyborg' who? Germaine de Randamie says UFC 208 title-fight winner is No. 1 featherweight

A UFC belt is usually wrapped around the waist of the world’s best fighter at a given weight. That’s not necessarily going to be the case when Saturday’s UFC 208 main-event winner has the inaugural women’s featherweight title wrapped around her waist.

The UFC’s first female 145-pound champion will be decided when [autotag]Germaine de Randamie[/autotag] (6-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] (10-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) square off in UFC 208’s pay-per-view headliner at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The winner will own the gold, but she almost certainly won’t be considered the world’s best at the weight.

No, that distinction goes to [autotag]Cristiane Justino[/autotag] (17-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), who has been dominating the women’s 145-pound division with iron fists for more than a decade. “Cyborg” is the current Invicta FC featherweight champion and has been waiting years for the UFC to add her weight class. It finally here, but she’s not part of the inaugural title bout.

Justino apparently declined several offers to fight at UFC 208 while citing medical issues. Shortly thereafter she was flagged for a potential doping violation from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which has handcuffed her career for the indefinite future.

Ideally Justino would have fought either de Randamie or Holm for the belt. However, de Randamie said that’s not much of a concern because she believes the UFC belt represents the No. 1 ranking.

“Cris got the offer to fight Holly, Cris got the offer to fight me, and she wasn’t able to,” de Randamie said. “If you’re a champion, you fight against everybody. Holly and I are going to fight, and one of us will decide who is the next No. 1. If one of us has to defend the title against Cris ‘Cyborg,’ it will be Cris ‘Cyborg’ who we defend the title against.

“(Holly and I are) going to fight, and no matter what people think, one of us will be the 145 champion. I think if you look at Holly’s credentials and my credentials, we’ve both accomplished a lot in the sport. We absolutely belong at the top.”

History is on the line for both UFC 208 combatants. The inaugural title is at stake, but there’s more to it, as well. Holm, the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, can become the first female fighter to win UFC belts in two weight classes. De Randamie, meanwhile, can become just the second UFC champion from the Netherlands and first since Bas Rutten held the heavyweight title in 1999.

Although Holm is the bigger name ahead of the fight, oddsmakers currently list de Randamie as a small betting favorite, which is an indication of how her skills are perceived despite having fought significantly lesser competition than Holm.

De Randamie comes from a kickboxing and muay Thai background. She’s taller and longer than Holm, which could make for a problematic night for “The Preacher’s Daughter.” De Randamie said she isn’t as well known as Holm, but ultimately name value isn’t what wins fights; skills do.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that I have to be on top of my top game,” de Randamie said. “I have to perform. I cannot make a mistake. I understand a lot of people do not know a lot about my kickboxing career. Probably also because I’m not from the United States and I live in Europe, and the kickboxing scene in the United States is not as big as it is Europe.

“Winning a UFC belt will solidify (my career). In the past a lot of people have told me I couldn’t do it. I’m a believer that you can do anything you want in life. I want to win, and I want to solidify my career.”

Should de Randamie pull off the victory, the future beyond UFC 208 is unclear. The UFC has yet to take any steps toward building the women’s featherweight division aside from the UFC 208 title fight, but Holm said that’s likely to change in a hurry following the first title fight.

De Randamie appears less concerned about what could come next. She said her focus is solely on winning the title.

“To be honest I haven’t really heard much about it, and right now it’s not much of my concern either,” de Randamie said. “I still have a big task in Holly Holm in front of me. Let’s fight with Holly first and see what comes after.”

For more on UFC 208, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.