Germaine de Randamie out of UFC Paris due to multiple injuries, Nora Cornolle gets new opponent
Germaine de Randamie | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Germaine de Randamie is out of UFC Paris.
De Randamie was scheduled to face Nora Cornolle in a women’s bantamweight contest at UFC Paris on Sept. 28 at Accor Arena, however, on Thursday, “The IronLady” announced she was forced to withdraw from the event due to injury.
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“Hi guys,
“I’m so heartbroken to inform you that I had to pull out of my fight September 28th in Paris. Two weeks ago in training I broke my finger and fractured my foot. The doctors told me I couldn’t train for at least 3 weeks. Knowing I had only 5 weeks left, my team and I decided to pull us out, because we didn’t wanna take a risk and put one hell of a dogfight for you guys. I’m especially heartbroken because I’m coming close to the end of my fighting career and wanted to give this to my friends and family who planned to be [in attendance] in the arena. I had a plan but god decided differently this time. I will be back in the gym as soon as the doctor gives me green light. And I truly hope the UFC will give me my fight before the end of the year. Thank you for all your support and kind words. I will be back and do what I have planned to do. ‘DIE WITH MEMORIES, NOT DREAMS.’”
An accomplished kickboxer before transitioning to MMA, de Randamie was the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight champion, beating Holly Holm for the belt back at UFC 208. De Randamie was later stripped of the title by the promotion after refusing to fight Cris Cyborg and returning to the bantamweight division. She would go on to challenge Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight title, losing via unanimous decision in 2019. Most recently, de Randamie ended a three year hiatus from competition by returning against Norma Dumont at UFC Vegas 90, where she lost via unanimous decision.
With de Randamie out, Jacqueline Cavalcanti is expected to replace her in the fight against Cornolle on Sept. 28. Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Thursday following an initial report from AG Fight.
Cavalcanti accepts the fight after going 2-0 to start her UFC career including wins over Zarah Fairn and Josiane Nunes. Now she clashes with Cornolle as part of the UFC’s return to Paris.
