Frankie Edgar: Germaine de Randamie won’t fight Cris Cyborg because of “fear”

The ongoing saga of figuring out UFC women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie’s next move has continued to be a rather surprising one.

After winning the inaugural women’s featherweight championship by defeating Holly Holm earlier this year, Germaine de Randamie looked all but ready to defend the title against the presumptive #1 contender Cris Cyborg after Cyborg was cleared by USADA for a potential anti-doping violation. When Cyborg was indeed cleared by USADA, GDR revealed that she had no intentions of fighting the former Invicta FC women’s featherweight champ. While many believed the UFC would be able to book a fight between GDR and Cyborg, the champ revealed that she would be likely moving back down to 135, rather than fight Cris Cyborg, who she dubbed a “proven cheater”.

Now, former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar spoke during a recent media scrum to weigh-in on GDR’s unwillingness to defend her title against Cyborg, saying:

“It’s fear. USADA is in place now,” Edgar said during a recent media scrum. “For me, I would fight whether they’re doing steroids or not. I’m a fighter and that’s why I signed up to do this sport. I guess she had different plans though.”

“That’s crazy to me. She just doesn’t want to fight Cyborg. That’s what it comes down to. At ‘35, she’s not getting easy fights there either. If I was her, I would at least fight in one more title fight. You never know, you may not get a chance to do that again.”

So far no word as to when the champ plans to drop back down to bantamweight, however UFC President Dana White recently revealed that Cris Cyborg would indeed be fighting at UFC 214 in July, however no opponent has been named.

Stay tuned for updates on that situation as they become available.

on 6/3/2017.