While Holly Holm has been a renowned figure in the world of MMA, she became a household name when she upset Ronda Rousey at UFC 193, ending her legendary unbroken streak.
In much the same fashion, Germaine de Randamie entered the history books by becoming the first ever UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion by defeating Holly Holm, albeit in rather controversial fashion. While she's been a hot topic ever since her win, not much is known about this Dutch sensation offline and online.
With that said, let us introduce you to UFC’s most recent Champion, Germaine de Randamie.
#5 She has never lost a Muay Thai fight
Even before she made history this weekend inside the Octagon, de Randamie was a one-of-a-kind athlete across disciplines. Not only is she undefeated in Muay Thai, at the pro level, she is also unbeaten at the amateur level!
Yes, believe it or not, de Randamie has won 46 Muay Thai matches, with 30 knockouts and zero losses across her career. Let that statistic sink in for a minute. Now, add this one! With 37 wins and zero losses, she is undefeated in kickboxing as well.
Not surprisingly, Germaine de Randamie is popularly known as the ‘Iron Lady’. Her reputation does precede her and she is a celebrated athlete even outside the Octagon. Opponents fear her because of her extremely diverse background in combat sports.
Other than Muay Thai and kickboxing, de Randamie is also proficient when it comes to MMA (naturally), Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing and Greco-Roman wrestling. At present, she holds 10 Muay Thai World Titles. That’s not all...she holds them across seven different organisations. Germaine de Randamie is a legend.
#4 Fans believed she wouldn’t make it in MMA
We just mentioned Germaine De Randamie's historic run in Muay Thai and also in kickboxing. However, de Randamie had bigger dreams and wanted to scale the summit even in the realm of MMA.
While she expected to be serenaded with encouragement, the same supporters who had once had her back became her biggest detractors after this decision. Not only were they critical of her changing disciplines, they wanted her to excel at what she was exceptionally good at. Her fans told her that she wouldn’t make it in MMA. Boy, were they wrong!
She used this criticism as her motivation and entered her first MMA fight. This is the first time she would be defeated in anything she’d attempted, and this just fuelled her on to succeed even more. Germaine de Randamie stuck to her guns and became the legend we know her to be right now.
#3 She has a personal success mantra!
After her crushing defeat in her very first MMA match, de Randamie's mother told her, ‘Hey girl, no matter what you want, anything’s possible. You just have to go for it and give it your all'.
Germaine modified this philosophy into her own mantra- ‘Die with memories, not dreams’. This is a phrase she has repeatedly said in her interviews, and even uses time and again on social media posts and updates. It is the mantra that guides her into the Octagon, inspiring the best performances, despite the eventual outcome.
#2 She started Muay Thai training to lose weight
Not much is known about de Randamie’s early life, truth be told. We know her mother is Dutch and her father is Afro-Surinamese. We know that early in her life, she worked as a nurse. Yes, she was a nurse in a psychiatric hospital.
During that stint, she worked excessively with children. The only other fact we know from her childhood is that Germaine de Randamie became interested in Muay Thai, simply to lose weight and become totally lean. She began at the age of fifteen and since then there’s been absolutely no looking back. We’re glad she didn’t just go on a diet.
#1 She once knocked out a man
Long before she took the UFC by storm, Germaine de Randamie took on a man named Tom Waes in a pro boxing match. The outcome- she knocked him out absolutely cold! The man in question outweighed her by 40 pounds.
When the first blow hit, it rocked de Randamie. She kept her hands up and eventually succeeded in winning the match in no time. Because of this experience, even a Superstar like Holly Holm did not scare Germaine de Randamie.
Would you believe that she achieved this feat in her fourth professional boxing match? Die with memories, not with dreams!
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