Germaine de Randamie stripped of UFC title; Cyborg vs. Anderson official for UFC 214
The UFC has officially stripped Germaine de Randamie of her women's featherweight title after she refused to face top-ranked contender Cris "Cyborg" Justino.
In May, de Randamie, via her management team at Suckerpunch Entertainment, said that she would not entertain a fight with Cyborg over accusations of performance enhancing drug use.
Subsequently, the UFC has decided to strip her of the 145-pound title that she won in February with a decision victory against Holly Holm.
"UFC has informed Germaine de Randamie and her management team that she is being removed as the women’s featherweight champion due to her unwillingness to fight the No. 1 ranked contender, Cris ‘Cyborg' Justino," UFC officials said in a statement on Monday. "Subsequently, top contender Justino will face newly signed Invicta FC featherweight champion Megan Anderson for the UFC women’s featherweight title in the co-main event of UFC 214: Cormier vs. Jones 2, July 29 in Anaheim, Calif.
"UFC maintains that any champion is expected to accept fights against the top contenders in their respective weight classes in order to maintain the integrity of the sport.”
FOX Sports had previously reported that a fight between Cyborg and Anderson was in the works for the July 29 card and now the matchup is official.
Anderson joins the UFC from Invicta FC where she was the reigning featherweight champion after defeating Charmaine Tweet earlier this year.
Cyborg and Anderson had both lobbied for a fight at UFC 214 and now they will get their wish as de Randamie is no longer champion and a new featherweight queen will be crowned in July.
As for de Randamie, she's expected to return to her natural bantamweight division after a lone fight in the UFC at 145-pounds.
