With time no longer on her side, this can only be considered a case
of now or never for
Cat
Zingano.
The resurgent 41-year-old will challenge
Cristiane
“Cyborg” Justino for the undisputed
Bellator
MMA women’s featherweight championship in the
Bellator 300 co-headliner on Saturday at Pechanga Arena in San
Diego. Zingano enters the cage with the wind of a four-fight
winning streak in her sails. She last appeared at Bellator 293,
where she took a unanimous decision from
Leah
McCourt in their three-round pairing on March 31. The Winona,
Minnesota, native has not lost in nearly five years.
As Zingano makes final preparations for her forthcoming showdown
with Justino at 145 pounds, a look at five of the many moments that
have come to define her:
1. No Cakewalk
The unbeaten Zingano stopped
Miesha Tate
with a series of third-round knee strikes, as their women’s
bantamweight showcase buoyed “The Ultimate Fighter 17” Finale on
April 13, 2013 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. A
bloody and weary Tate succumbed to the blows 2:55 into Round 3.
Zingano weathered a difficult start, as Tate had the former
two-division Ring of Fire champion on her heels with punches,
takedowns and ground-and-pound. The momentum began to shift late in
the second round. There, Zingano escaped an attempted heel hook,
settled in top position and unleashed elbows and punches from
above. In the third, Zingano struck for an immediate takedown,
softened Tate with more ground-and-pound and then let loose with
knees when the onetime
Strikeforce
champion rose to her feet. A final standing elbow dropped Tate to
her knees and prompted referee Kim Winslow to intervene.
2. ‘Lioness’ Tamer
“Alpha Cat” moved to a perfect 9-0 as a professional when she took
out
Amanda
Nunes with mounted ground-and-pound in the third round of their
UFC 178 women’s bantamweight feature on Sept. 27, 2014 at the MGM
Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Zingano drew the curtain on the
Brazilian 1:21 into Round 3. Nunes emptied her gas tank in the
first round, where she took down the former Fight to Win
titleholder and battered her with heavy, relentless
ground-and-pound. Zingano withstood the assault and drew the
“Lioness” into deeper waters. Nunes had nothing left for the second
and third rounds. In the third, Zingano achieved full mount, opened
a nasty gash on the side of her fading counterpart’s head with a
well-placed elbow and sealed it with unanswered blows from the
top.
3. Outside of Arm’s Reach
Misguided aggression did not serve Zingano well when she submitted
to an armbar from women’s bantamweight champion
Ronda
Rousey in the first round of their brief UFC 184 headliner on
Feb. 28, 2015 at the Staples Center in Las Angeles. It was over in
just 14 seconds. Zingano fired a flying knee right out of the gate
and wandered recklessly into the clinch. She tossed Rousey to the
canvas with an ill-advised throw, but the champion scrambled
immediately to the back, pinned the challenger’s exposed limb
underneath her armpit and calmly cranked on the maneuver for the
finish. Zingano was the Olympic judoka’s seventh sub-minute
victim.
4. Sputtering in the Spotlight
“The Ultimate Fighter 18” winner
Julianna
Pena overcame some early issues to claim a unanimous decision
over Zingano in the featured UFC 200 prelim on July 9, 2016 at
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Pena swept the scorecards with 29-28
nods from all three judges. Zingano controlled the first five
minutes with takedowns, top control and ground-and-pound. Pena was
undeterred. She flipped the switch in Round 2, where she reversed a
takedown, advanced to Zingano’s back, set her hooks and fished for
the rear-naked choke. Though her bid to finish failed, momentum was
hers. She picked up where she left off in the third round,
executing a takedown inside the first 10 seconds before hammering
away at Zingano with ground-and-pound and again shifting to her
back.
5. Back in Business
Zingano made a triumphant return from a 622-day sabbatical and
shined her Bellator MMA debut, as she was awarded a unanimous
decision over
Gabrielle
Holloway in their Bellator 245 co-main event on Sept. 11, 2020
at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Scores were
30-26, 30-26 and 29-27. Zingano shook off whatever rust resulted
from her layoff and executed takedowns in all three rounds. She
piled up points with ground-and-pound and hunted submissions
whenever the mood struck, flexing her Brazilian jiu-jitsu black
belt skills on a woman she woefully overmatched on the mat. Zingano
more than held her own in the standup exchanges, as well, as she
called upon close-range knee and elbow strikes to the head and body
in an encouraging performance in front of a new audience.