Cindy Dandois, a former UFC, Bellator and Invicta fighter, was hospitalized Friday after an alleged attack by an ex-boyfriend.
Reports from Belgium said that Dandois, 35, was attacked by her former partner outside her home in Deurne, Antwerp, with the Belgian fighter explaining after the incident that the attack was a result of a previous break-up between the pair.
“An ex of mine couldn’t believe we were apart and I just wanted to go through life as friends,” she told Het Laatste Niews (via translation). “Jealousy, then. He had been threatening me for a while, but I didn’t take those threats seriously – until he stood at my door.”
Reports said the alleged assailant waited in hiding for Dandois and attacked her by surprise, using a key as a weapon and leaving Dandois with facial injuries including a broken nose and laceration across her nose and face that required seven stitches.
“I was not prepared for the attack at all,” Dandois told the news outlet. “Before I knew it, I got slapped in the face. My nose is broken and crooked. There is also a deep cut that was stitched with seven stitches. It will be a scar for life. Hopefully, they will be able to straighten my nose again. I should have taken the threats seriously from the beginning, but always hoped that he would cool down. Not so. ”
Dandois said her MMA training helped her to avoid receiving even worse injuries, but the Belgian, who works as a teacher, maintained that the skills she learned in the gym should not be used on the street, other than for self defense.
“I don’t like fighting outside the ring. I am not a street fighter,” she said. “And if you don’t see an attack coming, it’s hard to avert it completely. I defended myself, of course, to prevent worse.”
The incident and subsequent injuries mean that Dandois had to pull out of her scheduled fight at Fightclub Den Haag this week. But despite her injuries, the veteran martial artist said he was optimistic she would be ready to return to the promotion’s next event on Dec. 15.
“I hope to be restored in time for the next fight,” she said. “I will be ready in three weeks.”
Rather than pressing charges against her attacker, Dandois reportedly lodged a police complaint, saying she simply wants him to cover the costs of her medical bills.
“I’d be very happy if he had to pay for the financial costs,” she said. “I don’t need to send him to prison. We are all people. We all make mistakes. I hope he sees them, pays for what he has done and picks up his life again. And leave me alone, of course … I am not a pathetic victim who cries in a corner. It’s tough, but I’m still here, fortunately. This could have ended differently.”
