Holly Holm loses inaugural UFC women’s featherweight title fight after dubious non-call by ref – Yahoo Sports

Referee Todd Anderson’s controversial decision not to take a point from Germaine de Randamie during her bout Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn against Holly Holm led directly to the Dutch woman capturing the first women’s featherweight title in the main event of UFC 208.

Judges Chris Lee, Sal D’Amato and Jeff Mullen all scored the bout 48-47 for de Randamie, making her the first women’s featherweight champion in UFC history. Yahoo Sports also had it 48-47 for de Randamie, giving her rounds 1, 3 and 4 and giving Holm rounds 2 and 5.

The hardest punch of the fight was a right hand by de Randamie that landed squarely on the face of Holm at least a full second, if not more, after the bell sounded to end the second round.

De Randamie did it again at the end of Round 3, landing another shot after the bell though this one wasn’t as impactful. Anderson didn’t take a point and warned de Randamie as she walked back to the corner that he’d take a point next time.

But Holm was clearly shaken by the first extremely late blow and there’s no telling what impact it had on her the rest of the way.

“It was in the heat of the moment,” said de Randamie, who said afterward she’ll need surgery on her hand. “I apologize and I didn’t mean to hit her after the bell. It was heat of the moment. I am not that kind of a fighter.”

Holm landed more volume, though de Randamie landed the harder blows. But Holm, the former women’s bantamweight champion, did hurt de Randamie with a kick in the third and dropped her with a left hand in the fourth.

There was little subtlety about what de Randamie was attempting to do Saturday: She was 46-0 with 30 knockouts as a kickboxer and has extremely heavy hands. She was looking to brawl and knock Holm out.

A former world champion boxer, Holm circled a lot and attempted to take de Randamie down frequently. They spent a long time grappling along the cage, though Holm didn’t accomplish much with it other than not allowing de Randamie to fire her bombs.

The title was created for Cris “Cyborg” Justino, who turned down three matches because she said she needed more time to make the weight after a tough cut in her fight against Lina Lansberg in September.

But in December, she failed a surprise drug test, though she insisted it was medication prescribed by her doctor. She’s in the process of applying for a retroactive therapeutic-use exemption, and UFC president Dana White said Friday in an interview that indications are that she may receive it.

But that doesn’t mean the fight will happen quickly, given de Randamie’s comments about getting surgery on her hands.

The public, though, is sure to scream for either a rematch, given the referee’s ineptitude and the close nature of the fight, or for Justino to get the title bout quickly.

So while de Randamie left with the belt, not much was settled on Saturday.