UFC 208: Germaine de Randamie details her quest to ‘die with memories, not dreams’

Die with memories, not dreams. If you pay close attention to UFC 208’s headliners, this is a statement you might hear more than once. These five words are the mantra of UFC featherweight title challenger Germaine de Randamie. It features heavily on the Dutch fighter’s facebook posts, pops up in interviews, and it’s a lock that this will be uttered in the center of the Octagon on Saturday night regardless if the Iron Lady gets gold clasped around her waist.

Unlike well known quotes from fighters such as Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz, De Randamie’s rallying cry is not a carefully constructed catchphrase, nor is it a spontaneous (or profane) comeback. It’s the product of a hard fought lesson that taught de Randamie how to survive, and find happiness, in a world of broken bones and bloody noses.

As a kickboxer, Germaine de Randamie’s legacy is untouchable. The 32-year-old has dozens of muay thai fights to her name. During those contests she won a Dutch championship, three European championships, and ten World championships. Her achievements span three weight divisions. She went undefeated throughout her kickboxing career.

In 2007, after winning all an individual could win in Muay Thai, de Randamie – who was only 25 – decided to take on a new challenge: the booming sport of mixed martial arts. However, this proven winner’s transition to a new a sport came at a price. In exchange for changing disciplines, de Randamie lost a lot of the support she enjoyed during her storied kickboxing run.

“I had a lot of people telling me I couldn’t do this,” remembered de Randamie. “They were like, ‘No Germaine you’ve got to stick to kickboxing, that’s what you’re good at.’ A lot of people didn’t think I could make it. They didn’t give me a lot of a chance.” Though the words did hurt, de Randamie would not deviate from her course. And she wasn’t afraid to respond to her doubters. “I always looked at them, I looked them straight in the eye and I said, ‘You know what? Watch me.’”

On December 19th, 2008 de Randamie gave her doubters a chance to do just that. She had been booked against Vanessa Porto in the main event of RFC 2. De Randamie wasn’t done any favors by RFC in her pro-MMA debut. Though the same age as de Randamie, Porto was a veteran of ten MMA fights, who had gone the distance with Cris Cyborg and taken a win from Tonya Evinger.

At the 3:36 minute mark of the first round, something happened to de Randamie that she’d never experienced in combat sports. Defeat. Porto, who remains a crafty veteran to this day, caught the debuting de Randamie with an armbar and forced the former Muay Thai multi-champ to quit. De Randamie’s first opportunity to shut-up those who had scoffed at her entry into MMA resulted in failure.

To makes matter worse, there was a thick layer of insult added to injury. “I’m undefeated and my first MMA fight I lost, by an armbar. And the promoter, he sent me to the hospital. But there was no money, there was no insurance. I had to pay for everything myself and I didn’t get my purse.”

After she left hospital, the galvanized words of her doubters were waiting for her. It was de Randamie’s lowest moment in fighting. “I think we all hit that point at some time in this life, when we’re like, ‘Seriously? Are you kidding me? This seriously gotta be like this?’

“After the fight a lot of people looked at me different”, continued de Randamie. “They looked down on me like, ‘Yeah, you lost.’ And I think losing the fight, and for the first time losing, wasn’t as hard as the way people treated me. MMA is a tricky sport; sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It sucks, but it is what it is. You try to make the best of it, and I did try and make the best of it. Only it wasn’t good enough for a lot of people, and again they told me I couldn’t do it.”

During this difficult time in her life, de Randamie took time to reflect on her ambitions and to get council from those people who did believe in her. It was then that one figure emerged, just as she always did, as the perfect motivator to get de Randamie back to a positive place.

“I didn’t want to believe [what the doubters were saying], because my mom always told me, from even when I was a little girl, she always told me, ‘Hey girl, no matter what you want; anything is possible. You just have to go for it and give it your all.’ And I was like, this is okay that you treat me like that, it’s okay because in the end, I will be the one smiling.” It seems to have been around this time that de Randamie’s mantra took shape and she began writing, saying, and thinking: ‘Die with memories, not with dreams.’

“After my first loss, I thought: this is not how I want it to end,” said de Randamie. “I always say I will do things on my terms and I will end them in my terms.” Almost two years later de Randamie returned to MMA. In 2010 she was booked opposite Nikohl Johnson, who was 3-2 at the time, at Playboy Fight Night 5. She won by unanimous decision.

Over the next two years de Randamie continued to study and improve her craft. She fought three times in Strikeforce between 2011 and 2012. There she scored her first stoppage, a knockout knee versus Stephanie Webber. Fighting under the Showtime promotion she also lost a decision to Julia Budd, and picked up a win over Hiroko Yamanaka. Strikeforce folded soon after and The Iron Lady found herself under the bright lights of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

After three years of being tested in the UFC, de Randamie has only lost once – to current bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes. Surrounding that loss she’s outpointed Julie Kedzieand smashed Larissa Pacheco. And in her last fight, against Anna Elmose in 2016, de Randamie had a coming out party like few fighters ever experience. De Randamie impressed with a dominant performance over Elmose which ended with a KO knee to the body in the first round. The crowd went wild and not just because of the exciting finish, but because de Randamie was their hometown hero. The fight took place in Rotterdam, about an hour away from de Randamie’s home in Utrecht.

De Randamie gets giddy remembering the moment she straddled the Octagon fence with the Dutch colors draped over her shoulders. “I can not even come close to describing that feeling,” gasped de Randamie. “I literally got lifted up by the crowd, that was without any doubt the highlight of my career. I became immortal at that point. And I can tell you, no matter who was in front of me, nobody would have had a chance that night. I felt literally immortal and so much love and positive vibes I got from the crowd. That was the highlight of my career. Nothing can top that. I mean, a UFC belt will definitely come close, but that won’t top that feeling, absolutely not.”

On February 11th de Randamie has a chance to test her theory. In the main event of UFC 208, live from the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, New York, she’ll face former bantamweight champ Holly Holm. On the line is the newly minted UFC women’s featherweight crown. De Randamie has heard the criticism over this match-up, as well as the entire weight division, but she’s not phased by it. After all, she’s no stranger to people doubting her.

“A lot of people have been writing or saying that maybe Holly or I don’t deserve to be there. A lot of people do not know enough about my credentials, or Holly’s, but we have some amazing credentials on our records. At the end of the day, they offered people the fight and Holly and I, we both said, ‘yes.’ So I can only say one thing: a lot of people might not know me right now, but after February 11th, you won’t forget me anymore. You will know who I am. It’s gonna be on hell of a night, and one hell of a fight. That’s one thing I can promise.”

To de Randamie, part of what makes her confident in being able to deliver a clash for the ages is the same thing that has carried her through the peaks and valleys of her obstacle strewn career path: the absolute belief that she was living in accordance to her mantra.

“I say ‘Die with memories, not dreams’, because I’m a believer that nothing is impossible. It’s not going to be an easy road; I will tell you there’s no easy roads in life. But, I hope that I can change one person’s mind and that they can realize, if they really want something, they just gotta fight for it. It won’t come easy, but in the end, it will be worth it. And why not have tried? Some people call it failure. I don’t believe in failure, I believe in lessons. You only have one life, live it to the fullest! Go after your dreams! Go for it! There are people who do believe in you and will support you and will have your back, and that’s where the quote is coming from.”

You can watch Germaine de Randamie attempt to turn her dream of winning a UFC title into a memory this Saturday night, at UFC 208, live on pay-per-view.