Germaine de Randamie defends Aspen Ladd stoppage

Germaine de Randamie headlined her second UFC card on Saturday, taking on the undefeated Aspen Ladd in the main event of UFC Sacramento. But, fans were not happy with the ending of the fight as the former featherweight champion knocked out the 24-year-old in just 16 seconds with one punch. As soon as the fight was over, boos came down from the crowd, who evidently thought the referee intervened early.

De Randamie had no idea if it was an early stoppage during the fight. But, now looking back on it, the Dutch fighter believes it was a good stoppage and wonders why fans want to see fighters take more damage than necessary.

“To be honest, it was a good stoppage. If Herb wasn’t going to break it and stop it, I was going to jump on top of her and land ground and pound,” De Randamie said to BJPENN.com. “A lot of people might complain but why take more damage than necessary? Aspen is a very young girl and has her whole career ahead of her. We take so much damage as fighters so why take more? It was a clean shot, there was no doubt about it. If I look back at it, it was a good stoppage.”

Although she believes it was a good stoppage, some fans do not agree. Many point to Ladd’s weight cut as that may have had an impact on her, but de Randamie is certain that had no impact. Instead, she says it was just a perfect punch that would have knocked anyone out.

“I don’t believe so. I didn’t hit her on the side of her head where her balance is. It landed on the jaw so I don’t think [her weight cut] had any impact,” she explained. “Aspen said she had a lot of bad weight cuts and she said she felt good. And, the doctors checked her so I assume they made the right call allowing her to fight.”

This win is Germaine de Randamie’s third via TKO in the UFC. Although she had over 30 knockouts in kickboxing, knockouts have been a bit rarer in her MMA career. She believes there’s a simple reason for that.

De Randamie says she was solely focusing on defending the takedowns early on in her career and not fighting her fight. But now, she is implementing her game plan.

“The thing is, I had a ton of knockouts in my kickboxing career. In MMA, it was just about finding that momentum again and finding out where that right spot is and I have found that,” de Randamie explained. “I’m very appreciative that I get to step into the cage, so it makes it a totally different game. I can freely punch and throw my shots. At first, I was only worried about defending takedowns, no I’m focusing on my game.”

With the win, de Randamie did what she never thought was possible. End a fight without being hit once. It is the dream scenario for her, and something she is glad to have accomplished.

“Seriously, only in dreams. I dream of ending a fight with one punch and it happened. Dreams do come true. It can’t get much better than this,” de Randamie concluded. “I even told my coach this is weird. I haven’t been hit. It almost feels like something is not completed. It is a great feeling but a weird feeling.”

What did you think of Germaine de Randamie’s win over Aspen Ladd?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 7/18/2019.