Germaine de Randamie announces UFC Fight Night 243 withdrawal; replacement found
Injuries have forced former UFC champion Germaine de Randamie out her scheduled fight in Paris.
Thursday, de Randamie (10-5 MMA, 7-3 UFC) revealed in an Instagram post that she broke a finger and a foot two weeks ago, leading to her withdrawal from UFC Fight Night 243 on Sept. 28.
"I’m so heartbroken to inform you that I had to pull out of my fight September 28th in Paris," de Randamie wrote. "... 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 attend 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.'"
de Randamie was scheduled to fight France's Nora Cornolle (8-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in a women's bantamweight bout. Filling the void is Jacqueline Cavalcanti (7-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC). Both fighters in the new matchup confirmed the booking on social media after an initial report by Ag. Fight.
De Randamie, 40, has only competed once in a near four-year stretch. A former UFC women's featherweight champion, de Randamie has only competed twice she lost the women's featherweight title in December 2019 due to injuries and pregnancy.
With the change, the UFC Fight Night 243 lineup includes:
Renato Moicano vs. Benoit Saint-Denis
Joanderson Brito vs. William Gomis
Morgan Charriere vs. Gabriel Miranda
Brendan Allen vs. Nassourdine Imavov
Jacqueline Cavalcanti vs. Nora Cornolle
Matt Frevola vs. Fares Ziam
Bryan Battle vs. Kevin Jousset
Ion Cutelaba vs. Ivan Erslan
Ludovit Klein vs. Roosevelt Roberts
Da Woon Jung vs. Oumar Sy
Ailin Perez vs. Dariya Zhelezniakova
Victor Altamirano vs. Daniel Barez
Chris Duncan vs. Bolaji Oki
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC Fight Night 243.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Germaine de Randamie announces UFC Fight Night 243 withdrawal; replacement found