Germaine de Randamie Grabs Title Over Holly Holm Amidst Controversy (UFC 208 Results)
Germaine de Randamie made history at UFC 208, beating Holly Holm in the evening's featured bout in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Saturday to become the first UFC women's featherweight champion.
The main event went the full length of 25 minutes with judges seeing de Randamie earn scores of 48-47, 48-47 and 48-47.
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The fight started off with each competitor measuring the other. Holm applied a number of side kicks as de Randamie tried to walk her opponent down. Once Holm closed distance and attempted combinations, de Randamie countered well and hit a number strikes. The opening round ended with Holm attempting a takedown, but with no success.
The counters from de Randamie kept coming early in the second. Holm then sought the clinch and attempted knees, but de Randamie showed strength from that position and landed strong knees of her own. As the round ended, de Randamie landed a punch after the bell and it wobbled Holm as she walked back to her corner.
De Randamie continued looking to land power shots in the third. Holm, however, had her biggest strike to this point in the fight when she landed a question mark kick that shook de Randamie. As the round ended, de Randamie again threw strikes after the horn and was warned by the referee that he would take a point away if she did it one more time.
The fourth round saw Holm continuing to go to the clinch, looking for knees as she smothered her opponent against the cage. In the fifth, Holm appeared fresher and kept up the volume of strikes, landing a significant punch a moment before locking in the clinch again. The bout then went to the judges where the decision was made, and de Randamie had her hand raised.
Following the bout, de Randamie explained that she likes to brawl and is willing to take on Cris Cyborg Justino for her first title defense. She revealed, however, that she tore ligaments in her hand in a previous fight and will seek surgery.
With the win, de Randamie begins her time as champion with an 8-3 record. On the other side, Holm is a loser of three consecutive fights.
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