With Cris Cyborg unable to answer the call, former women’s Bantamweight champion, Holly Holm, attempted to become the first-ever female in the history of the promotion to hoist belts in two separate weight classes at UFC 208 tonight (Feb. 11, 2017) when she collided with Germaine de Randamie inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., for the inaugural Featherweight crown.
History will have to wait because de Randamie scored a unanimous decision victory after five rounds of back-and-forth action.
Both ladies came out looking to land feet first, as de Randamie chased Holm in circles looking to get her hands going. Two minutes in she finally clipped Holm, but was unable to follow it up with anything meaningful. As Holm came charging in to land a combination, de Randamie made her pay with a short left hook, which she followed up with two more clean shots. de Randamie missed with a looping left hand that Holm ducked under and went for a takedown, but it never really materialized and the two ended up knotted up along the fence until the round concluded.
To start the second stanza, Holm continued to jump in with flurries and try and exit quickly, but de Randamie was able to remain calm and pop her each time she made an attempt. In fact, de Randamie stung her with a hard straight right hand that inspired Holm to mash her up against the fence to close the distance. Holm struggled for about a minute to score a takedown along the fence, but de Randamie was able to remain upright as the crowd began to grow restless. de Randamie was able to get some space and land knees to Holm’s belly intermittently, but for the most part, it was a battle for position the entire round. Just as the horn blared to end the round, de Randamie drilled Holm with a straight right hand the clearly wobbled her as she went back to her corner.
Holm came out for the third round with the cobwebs seemingly cleared. But, that didn’t stop de Randamie from countering Holm with hard shots at every available opportunity. Holm reached for a takedown midway through the round, but de Randamie saw it coming from a mile away and side-stepped it. de Randamie whiffed with another huge right hand, which Holm attempted to use to her advantage with a takedown, but “Iron Lady” was just not about to get into a ground battle. Toward the end of the round, Holm clipped de Randamie with a head kick, which led to an exchange at the end of the round where de Randamie once again landed a shot late. The referee warned her that he’d be forced to take a point if it happens again even though she probably should have been docked after the second offense.
To start the championship rounds, Holm immediately closed the distance and pressed de Randamie up against the cage. She was unable to do anything with the position and the referee eventually separated them. Holm was seemingly the fresher fighter, but was unable to get anything really going in terms of takedowns other than tire out de Randamie heading into the fifth and final frame. Holm was able to land a huge left hand in the final round, forcing de Randamie to immediately tie up. Holm was more than willing to oblige, in search of that elusive takedown along the fence. The referee would separate them once again and, once again, the ladies would return there moments later. de Randamie threw up her hands in disgust as the crowd booed and, with 20 seconds to go, she finally broke free, but was unable to mount any sustainable offense.
It was a very close fight. In the end, though, de Randamie did enough in the eyes of the judges — despite points not being deducted for the two fouls after the bell — to earn a unanimous decision. Of course, no good deed ever goes unpunished inside the Octagon, which means she will more than likely make her first title defense against the most dominant and feared female fighter on the planet, Cris Cyborg, next.
Have fun!
For complete results from UFC 208: "Holm vs. de Randamie," including play-by-play updates, click here and here.