The circumstances may not have been ideal, but Germaine de Randamie is going out on her terms.

Netherlands' "Iron Lady" always did things her way in her 16-year, 15-fight MMA career. Unfortunately, more than the memories and highlights she delivered, the controversies and "what ifs" outweigh all.

De Randamie, 40, revealed this past Thursday that her retirement resulted from a self-made promise not to fight past her current age and into 2025. The insistence on not breaking such a promise should be applauded, especially in combat sports where a return is always one good offer away. However, de Randamie has historically provided no reasons to believe we'll see her again.

I remember speaking with the former UFC featherweight champion before her rematch with Amanda Nunes for the UFC bantamweight title in 2019. De Randamie contemplated hanging up her gloves back then if the fight didn't go her way. Overall, that wouldn't have been early. She had already had full and fruitful careers in kickboxing and Muay Thai, working as a full-time police officer through it all.

"There’s not much left for me to do after this," de Randamie said. "I can defend the belt or if I lose, there’s not much to do after this. We’ll see.

"Of course, you want to defend the belt. But if I lose, I don’t know. Am I gonna try and capture the belt again? I don’t know."

Retirement didn't ensue, obviously, but a second loss to the all-time great Nunes did.

Even in defeat, de Randamie's underrated abilities shined bright. She gave the legendary champion all she had to offer on the feet. Nunes was forced to lean on her grappling in the fight, an area that perpetually plagued the Utrecht native.

Back to the drawing board. The unknown. One more rebound and one more surprise.

De Randamie avoided losing two straight fights in MMA, and after her second Nunes loss, she shocked the world with a guillotine choke of future two-time divisional champion Julianna Peña — her only submission win.

A victory over Peña kept GDR in the thick of things atop the bantamweight division, which really screwed the rest of the contenders and Nunes' new challenger potential. It could have been the start of another climb. A trilogy would have been a tough sell, and ultimately, de Randamie didn't need it.

We didn't see de Randamie compete for four years after that Peña win, not until she returned from becoming a mother to drop a unanimous decision against Norma Dumont this past April. Whether it was injuries or other goals to achieve, there was never a rush to get back in the Octagon.

Peña was a great win for the striker as her last, and only aged better over time. The same can be said for names like future MMA champions Larissa Pacheco and Raquel Pennington on de Randamie's résumé. This was just what de Randamie had a knack for: overdelivering in underutilized positions.

And it's what she should have been known for.

What if the Cris Cyborg fight happened?

It's not often you see the good graces of a professional athlete die right before your eyes.

One moment changed everything for de Randamie after making history at UFC 208 in February 2017. It was that wild time when the UFC signed Cris Cyborg after years of hopes we'd see her in the Octagon, only for the promotion to have its metaphorical teeth pulled to create a featherweight division.

Cyborg had to nearly die to get there, but it happened.

After two fights at 140 pounds, the UFC made a "real" 145-pound division for the all-time great. To make matters even sillier, the UFC couldn't even wait for Cyborg to be part of the inaugural title fight. Those honors went to former bantamweight champion Holly Holm and the Dutch dynamo de Randamie.

Bantamweights fighting for the featherweight title sure sat well with the community, didn't it? Not so much.

Once the fight started, fans got over the optics because they were treated to a great matchup between two of the sport's best female strikers. GDR was a live dog who should have garnered more respect from oddsmakers. Her limited MMA résumé in comparison hampered the support, but it made no difference. De Randamie did her thing and scored the upset by unanimous decision.

The spoiling effort was a bumpy road, unfortunately. De Randamie's overall performance was mired by mid-fight controversy, specifically with massive punches that landed after the bell to close Rounds 2 and 3.

De Randamie's intentions in succession were particularly suspect. I've always been of the "don't hate the player, hate the game" thought; if you can exploit the rules that prove to be more and more nonexistent by each event in 2024, have at it. Does that make it right? Of course not. But you can't deduct imaginary points that were not taken, which several viewers did when scoring de Randamie vs. Holm.

The referee blew that one, but de Randamie took the blame, doing herself no favors post-fight.

Everyone and their mothers knew Cyborg was waiting in the wings to challenge the inaugural champion. It was the entire point of the division. However, de Randamie wasn't having it, claiming she was dealing with a foot injury and wasn't going to fight someone with the history of performance-enhancing drug use Cyborg had.

The excuse might have worked better for the new champion had Cyborg not tested negative for six straight years and seven fights. It turned the entire MMA world against de Randamie, but she stuck to her guns, stating she wasn't going to stick with featherweight anyway. There was no coming back from that one. The UFC soon stripped "The Iron Lady" of her inaugural featherweight crown and she went back to bantamweight.

It's still an all-around bizarre situation. Cowardice isn't necessarily something I buy into when we're talking professional cagefighters, and this revolved around a fighter in de Randamie with an extensive history of violence. That's just the Cyborg effect.

At the same time, de Randamie had all the striking chops to compete and have a decent chance of upsetting Cyborg. What if she won? What if she was the fighter to stop Cyborg rather than Nunes? We missed out on those answers and it stained any legacy the talented Dutchwoman ever could have had.

Sadly, you could say that moment is de Randamie's legacy.