Germaine de Randamie says Holly Holm 'didn't want to fight' at UFC 208, apologizes for late hits

Germaine de Randamie captured the UFC women’s featherweight championship in the main event of UFC 208. It was the biggest achievement of her combat sports career, but unfortunately, the historic moment was somewhat dampened by controversy.

De Randamie (7-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) edged former UFC women’s bantamweight titleholder Holly Holm (10-2 MMA, 3-3 UFC) by unanimous decision in Saturday’s headliner at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Debate over the validity of the scorecards was one issue, but the more prominent one surrounded a pair of late fouls from “The Iron Lady.”

On two different occasions – once at the end of the second round and again in the third – de Randamie struck Holm with hard blows that came noticeably after the horn sounded to indicate the end of the round. The first mishap wobbled Holm and potentially altered the course of the fight, but de Randamie was only granted a warning.

De Randamie received plenty of heat for her actions, but when asked about the late shots directly, the newly crowned champion said there was no malicious intent behind her actions.

“It wasn’t meant for me to hit her after the bell,” de Randamie said on FS1’s UFC 208 post-fight show. “It was in the heat of the moment. I apologize. I’m not like that.”

De Randamie won the fight against Holm with 48-47 scorecards across the board. Had she been penalized for her illegal blows in the form of a point deduction, the contest would have ended in a draw and no champion would have been crowned.

Nevertheless, de Randamie got the victory, and she said there’s no doubt in her mind it was deserved. The 25-minute affair was competitive from beginning to end, but de Randamie believes her greater willingness to engage with her opponent made the difference in the eyes of the judges.

“It was a close fight,” de Randamie said. “She (hurt) me in the third round with a head kick. It was close, but I came to fight and she didn’t want to fight me. I’m a brawler. I want to fight.

“I hoped she was going to fight with me. Holly’s a tremendous champion. I truly respect her. But I love to brawl, I love to fight. Clinching is not my game.”

If de Randamie was disappointed with Holm’s level of engagement in their fight, she’s almost sure to be satisfied in her next outing. De Randamie’s first 145-pound title defense is likely to come against Cristiane Justino (17-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), it’s just a question of locking down the specifics.

Justino’s career is currently on pause after “Cyborg” was flagged with a potential doping violation from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in December and must have that issue resolved before returning to the octagon. There’s optimism that gets done sooner than later, though, and when it does, de Randamie will get an opponent that will come after her with the aggression she desires.

“I want to fight everybody,” de Randamie said. “If Cris ‘Cyborg’ is the one I have to fight, I’ll fight her. Right now, I really need surgery on my hand. I’ll get surgery on my hand and we’ll see after.”

For complete coverage of UFC 208, check out the UFC Events section of the site.