Cindy Dandois is the Belgian UFC fighter who says she was attacked by an ex-boyfriend outside of her home in the city of Antwerp, Belgium, on November 22.
During her 10-year career, Dandois, 35, has fought for UFC, Bellator and Cage Warriors. Dandois was scheduled to fight on November 30, that bout has been postponed. Dandois says that she hopes to make her next fight after that, on December 15, in Athens, Greece.
Dandois told Het Laatste Nieuws in Belgium that her ex-boyfriend is also an MMA fighter. She said that he had trouble accepting their break-up. Dandois said, via Google Translate, “He did not accept that I want to move on and just stay friends. It’s jealousy. He threatened me all the time, but I never took his threats seriously. Until he comes to my door.” Witnesses told the newspaper that they saw the suspect use a key during the assault.
Dandois went on to say, “It will be a scar for life. I hope that they can straighten my nose. I should have taken his threats seriously from the beginning, but I always hoped he would calm down. Wrong.” Dandois did not say if she was planning to press charges. Dandois said that she hopes her attacker “pulls himself together.” Her wish is that he pays her medical costs and nothing else.
Dandois posted photos showing her cut face on Facebook. Dandois did not say in those posts how she received her injuries. Dandois did say that she suffered “7 stitches and a broken nose” and as a result would miss the November 30 fight at Fightclub Den Haag in the Netherlands. Dandois promised her fans, “I will be back.”
Dandois told Het Laatste Nieuws that she used her MMA training to avoid further injury. Dandois said that she is “not a street fighter” and that she doesn’t like fighting outside of the ring.
A few weeks before the assault, KREM reported that Dandois and her daughter, named in the report as Lola Papadatos, were in Washington State saw that Papadatos could compete in a pre-teen MMA tournament. Dandois said that she wanted her daughter to do ballet but age four, Papadatos was only interested in MMA.
The article notes that Papadatos competes against boys in Belgium because of a lack of competition. She told KREM, “No one should tell them they can’t do it. If they really want to do it and they train for it what can happen? I think small girls can’t knock out each other. They don’t have the power to do that. I think soccer and other sports it’s dangerous. In MMA there are good rules.”
In August 2017, Dandois was released from the UFC after just one fight. Dandois lost her only fight in the promotion to Alexis Davis in Nashville, Tennessee, in April 2017 by unanimous decision. Dandois made her professional fighting debut in 2009 when she defeated Marloes Coenen. Dandois fought at either bantamweight or featherweight.
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