Germaine de Randamie admits she took the words of her critics to heart.
A former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s featherweight title holder, de Randamie didn’t exactly lose her title with grace. After beating Holly Holm to capture the title, “The Iron Lady” refused to defend it against Cris Cyborg. This forced her to forfeit the title.
Fans stormed social media to blast de Randamie and labeled her a coward. During a recent appearance on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour,” she talked about the backlash:
“People can say I’m scared. I don’t mind. As long as I can look myself in the mirror and know I’m not scared. People can say I’m a cheater, I know I’m not a cheater. Of course it hurts, but I can’t change a person’s mind. If they believe that, it’s their opinion. But all the other stuff? Yeah, it hurt me. That hurt me more than losing the belt.”
The former champion went in-depth on some of the darker comments.
“That goes deep. It’s not only for me. This involves many other people. How many kids have been bullied, have committed suicide? I think that’s horrible. My only mission in life is to share what i love so much with the people that love it as much as I do. I’m talking about a lot of people who told me I should commit suicide and that I’m worthless. I’ve never been rock bottom, but it did hurt me. It hurt me because people think it’s OK to write something to somebody like that.”
