Germaine de Randamie is being stripped of her UFC women’s featherweight title after refusing to fight Cris “Cyborg” Justino.
As a result, Justino will compete against Invicta FC champion Megan Anderson for the vacant belt in the co-main event of UFC 214, July 29 in Anaheim, Calif.
The UFC released the following statement Tuesday when they announced the bout.
“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 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.”
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The women’s 145-pound division was introduced by the UFC with a championship fight at UFC 208 in February and de Randamie won a controversial decision over Holly Holm to win the inaugural title. She never defended the belt and recently said she had planned on returning to the 135-pound bantamweight division.
Justino (17-1, 1 NC) is 2-0 in the UFC, finishing Lina Lansberg and Leslie Smith in 140-pound catchweight bouts in 2016 despite being a natural 145-pounder.
Anderson (8-2) TKO’d Charmaine Tweet in January to win the Invicta FC featherweight title that “Cyborg” vacated when she went to the UFC.
Here is a look at the tentative UFC 214 fight card:
— Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones
— Cristiane Justino vs. Megan Anderson
— Andre Fili vs. TBA
— Aljamain Sterling vs. Renan Barão
— Kailin Curran vs. Alexandra Albu
— Josh Burkman vs. Drew Dober
— Dimitri Smoliakov vs. Adam Wieczorek
— Eric Shelton vs. Jarred Brooks
— Jimi Manuwa vs. Volkan Oezdemir
— Sage Northcutt vs. John Makdessi
— Ricardo Lamas vs. Jason Knight
— Brian Ortega vs. Renato Moicano
