Germaine de Randamie Suffers Injury, Out Of November Clash With Irene Aldana At UFC 268

Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger - Zuffa LLC

Inaugural UFC featherweight champion, Germaine de Randamie has been forced from her potential bantamweight title-eliminator at UFC 268 in November against Irene Aldana, after the Utretch native suffered an undisclosed injury.

de Randamie, the #1 ranked contender at bantamweight, was slated to meet with Sinaloa striker, Aldana on the main card of UFC 268 on November 5. at Madison Square Garden, however, the Dutch kickboxing standout is out of the pairing due to an undisclosed injury. At the time of publication, the promotion are actively attempting to find a short notice replacement for de Randamie, which would keep Aldana on the card. ESPN Deportes reporter, Carlos Contreras Legaspi was first to report the news of the shelved matchup. 

Returning to the winner's enclosure following an unsuccessful bantamweight title challenge against two-weight champion and two-time opponent, Amanda Nunes at UFC 245 back in December 2019 -- de Randamie rallied opposite incoming title chaser, Julianna Pena at UFC Fight Island 4 in October, submitting the Washington native with a surprising third round guillotine.

Herself headlining that October card in Abu Dhabi, UAE -- Team Lobo staple, Aldana bounced back from a unanimous decision shutout loss to common-foe, former champion, Holly Holm, dispatching one-time featherweight title challenger, Yana Kunitskaya at UFC 264 in July with a first round knockout win. 

10-4 as a professional, de Randamie clinched the inaugural UFC featherweight title back at UFC 208 in February 2017 -- taking a hugely controversial unanimous decision win over the aforenoted, Holm, despite landing two strikes at the end of separate rounds, without receiving any point deductions.

de Randamie would later be stripped of the featherweight title for her refusal to meet with former champion, Cris Cyborg.

In the time since, de Randamie has managed a unanimous decision win over Raquel Pennington and a first round knockout over Aspen Ladd, prior to her sole career submission win over Pena.