Germaine de Randamie: ‘If You Take Me Down, I Choke You Out’

Not just a striker @IronLadyMMA #UFCFightIsland4 live on ESPN pic.twitter.com/kxea3rHfIf

— UFC (@ufc) October 4, 2020

Germaine de Randamie has always been known for her standup acumen.

In addition to her MMA bouts, the Dutchwoman owns an impressive 46-0 record in kickboxing, which means that most UFC opponents won’t want to stand and trade with her. That was again the case at UFC on ESPN 16, where Julianna Pena did her best to ground “The Iron Lady” at any opportunity.

While that worked well early in the bantamweight bout, Pena paid the price for her strategy in Round 3, when de Randamie trapped her in a guillotine following a takedown and choked “The Venezuelan Vixen” unconscious. It was the first submission victory of de Randamie’s 14-bout MMA career.

“I said before this fight to my coaches, either I’ll get this guillotine—because if you give me your neck, I’m going to put you to sleep—or I’m going to knock her out,” de Randamie said. “I felt really sloppy. I didn’t feel loosened up, but she gave me her neck and I put her to sleep. That’s how it goes.

“When my arms sank in, I told the referee she was out. I felt her go out.”

It was a solid bounce back effort for de Randamie following a loss to Amanda Nunes in a title bout at UFC 245, where she was grounded repeatedly by the reigning champion in a five-round unanimous decision defeat.

“I surprised myself. It was a bit sloppy, but it’s all part of the deal. I got the victory and did it by submission,” she said. “It’s funny because my in last fight my opponent took me down and made it boring. Now, I did what I had to do and finished it.”

De Randamie remains one of the top fighters in the division, but she knows that a rematch with Nunes probably isn’t the promotion’s first choice. For now, she’ll simply be satisfied serving as a daunting roadblock for other title contenders.

“I’ll fight whoever. I just want to fight entertaining fights against people who come to fight. That’s all I want,” she said. “I'm still the number one. It doesn't matter what happens tonight, that winner has to face me before they face Amanda Nunes. I’m the No. 1 contender. Let Amanda Nunes enjoy her family. You’ve got to face me.”

And for those like Pena who taste De Randamie’s power on the feet and elect to try and take the fight to the canvas? The kickboxer might just have a surprise in store.

“I’m a kickboxer and they all want to take me down,” she said. “If you take me down, I choke you out.”