Germaine de Randamie vs. Marion Reneau set for UFN: Rotterdam

Former UFC women’s featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie will make her return to the Octagon on Sept. 2 in Rotterdam when she takes on Marion Reneau in a bantamweight bout.

The promotion announced the news Thursday.

UFC stripped de Randamie of her featherweight title last month due to her unwillingness to defend her title against the division’s No. 1 contender, Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino.

“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,” the promotion said in a statement.

The statement continued: “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.”

Invicta featherweight champion Megan Anderson was later slated to meet Justino for the UFC’s vacant featherweight belt but had to pull out due to undisclosed personal issues. Tonya Evingerhas stepped in her for the Australian and will face Justino at UFC 214.

Speaking to MMAFighting.com after being stripped of her title, De Randamie claimed that she was not aware that her championship status would be taken away from her.

“I had absolutely no idea that I was being stripped of the belt,” de Randamie told MMAFighting.com. “I found out through social media. Cyborg (Justino) is going to fight Megan (Anderson) for the belt.

“Nobody ever told me anything about it.”

De Randamie has won four of her five fights with UFC thus far, only coming up short against bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes when the Brazilian finished her in the first round of their meeting at UFC: Fight for the Troops 3.

Her last victory came via unanimous decision when she faced Holly Holm for the vacant featherweight title at UFC 208, in Brooklyn. Four months later, she was stripped of the title.

Reneau’s last outing finished in a majority draw against Brazilian bantamweight Bethe Correia. Reneau has won three of her six UFC tests. Her most notable victory came against former strawweight contender Jessica Andrade when she submitted her in the first round of their bantamweight clash at UFC Fight Night 61.

A native of Utrecht, de Randamie will add further interest for national fans, with towering Dutch heavyweight Stefan Struve set to face Alexander Volkov in the Sept. 2 main event at the Ahoy Rotterdam.