Cris Cyborg says she always knew Germaine de Randamie never wanted to fight her.
Cyborg will meet Megan Anderson for the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s featherweight title at UFC 214 on July 29. “The Iron Lady” was stripped of her championship for refusing to defend the belt against Cyborg.
Speaking with Combate, Cyborg said there were signs that de Randamie wasn’t going to fight her (via Bloody Elbow):
“We knew she never wanted to fight me. There was some people in her camp that warned me about it, they said she wasn’t going to fight me. I wanted to close the fight as soon as possible. I believe she knew they would do that. I don’t think it came as a surprise, or that she learned about it on the internet. The UFC was in touch with her manager, they wanted to put me against her, but I knew it wouldn’t be that quick.”
She then went on to say de Randamie always had an excuse.
“Maybe she was dropping to bantamweight to become a two-division champion. I guess that was her excuse, but she thought she couldn’t defend and keep her belt. She didn’t want the fight. Her first excuse was saying her hand was hurt, then she said she had family problems, then she called me a cheater. It was a new excuse everyday.”
