Cat Zingano Could Return To The Women’s Title Scene – Or A New Contender Could Emerge:
After spending nearly a year-and-a-half on the sidelines healing from knee surgery, No. 1-ranked women’s bantamweight Cat Zingano will make her long-awaited return at UFC 178 when she faces off with No. 7-ranked Amanda Nunes.
Zingano has dealt with an incredible amount of adversity in the time since her last win, a third round TKO over Miesha Tate at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 17 Finale in April 2013. She had surgery for a torn ACL and then dealt with another injury to her other knee from overcompensating.
She was also forced to deal with thee unfortunate death of her husband Mauricio from apparent suicide. It’s been a trying couple of years for Zingano, but at least she’ll finally be back to doing what she loves best this weekend.
She’ll have no easy task in Nunes, the Brazilian competitor who has railed off two straight first round TKO stoppages in her only two UFC bouts. Zingano is the favorite going in, but she could be suffering from severe ring rust.
If she proves that she’s back to full health by keeping her undefeated record intact with a win, there won’t be much doubt that Zingano should cut to the front of the line and challenge Ronda Rousey for the belt sometime soon.
On the other hand, if Nunes shocks the world and scores the upset, she’ll receive a huge boost up the rankings on her way towards a title shot of her own, making this a crucial bout for the future of the UFC women’s bantamweight title picture.
