At UFC 208 on Feb. 11, we saw the birth of a brand new division, and a brand new champion, but one of the major things being discussed after the fight is the fact that not once, but twice, Germaine de Randamie landed punches on Holly Holm after the end of the round.
Let’s walk through the first time it happened; Holm has the Dutchwoman pressed up against the cage in the clinch when the ten second clapper sounds, De Randamie escapes from the clinch as the horn goes, but proceeds to land a straight left hand and follow up with a massive right hand which buckles the knees of Holm.
Was this intentional? Yes. In my mind, there’s no doubt this is intentional. Not only is it evident in Germaine’s body language afterwards that it was evident, but you can see her rushing to get the shots in before the referee can step in. There’s very little chance she didn’t hear the horn; the crowd weren’t exactly screaming about the fight, and there was nothing obstructing her from hearing it.
Now to maybe the most important question, did this effect the outcome of the fight? Watch the video here and judge for yourself. There’s a massive possibility that the first instance could have changed the fight. Holm was visibly hurt, and it may have changed how she could perform for the rest of the fight. There’s really no way of knowing 100%, but I’ll say that there is quite a large possibility that this changed the fight.
Now onto the second time it happened, and let me just say, regardless of whether it was intentional of not, the referee should deduct a point if a fighter lands shots after the bell more than once. We’re not here to grill officials, though, so I’ll let him off on this occasion. The second time Germaine committed the offence, it was less damaging, but more blatant in my opinion.
Let’s run though it; Holly drops her with a head kick, greets hit with another one on the way up, then lands a leg kick before the two trade a few punches. Germaine throws three shots, then the horn sounds, then she pauses for a split second before throwing another two shots. The shots that she throws this time aren’t damaging and don’t really land, but let me tell you what makes this incident the more blatant one for me.
She lands the shots, then the referee steps in, and then she turns around, smiling with her arms out gesturing as if to say she weren’t hurt, and then the referee tries to tell her about the late shots, and she nods, giving off the impression that she knows what she has done.
As I said earlier, I don’t believe this second flurry really effected the outcome of the bout, but even so, it’s illegal, and it’s wrong. Whether it’s intentional or not, and I think both were in this case, the referee needs to deduct a point. No question about it, de Randamie should have had a point taken.
I also wanted to discuss who’s fault this was, as there has been a massive debate on social media whether the round is really over when the horn goes. Some people have stated that the round is not over until the referee steps in and halts the action. Rules aside, ignoring the rule book (that I probably don’t even know well anyway), I’d at least expect these fighters, who are competing on the biggest stage of them all, to have the sportsmanship, or decency, to stop when the horn sounds.
