Germaine de Randamie won the UFC women’s featherweight title at UFC 208, becoming the inaugural champion after taking a controversial decision over former bantamweight title holder, Holly Holm. But after winning the belt, de Randamie refused to face No. 1 contender Cris Cyborg, stating that Cyborg “is a known and proven cheater.” That decision came back upon her on Monday when the UFC officially stripped de Randamie of her title.
The UFC’s statement on the stripping declared that “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,”and some fans were quick to argue that those parameters haven’t been met by UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. Since winning the middleweight title a year ago, Bisping has only had one defense, against the fourteenth-ranked Dan Henderson at UFC 204. He was nominally supposed to face No. 1 contender Yoel Romero for his next title defense but was instead given a fight against the unranked Georges St-Pierre. That fight was (potentially) taken off the table due to injuries by both parties and an interim title bout between Romero and Robert Whittaker is set for UFC 213. But despite the interim belt, Bisping has made it clear that when he returns he still wants to face St-Pierre, which has fueled the fire among some fans and fighters that he should be stripped of the belt.
Morning Report: Michael Bisping responds to comparisons between his and Germaine de Randamie’s title situations