The UFC is going to have a hard time finding an opponent for Ronda Rousey if she destroys Cat Zingano later this month.
UFC president Dana White joked on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday night that the promotion will have to go outside Rousey’s gender with a dominant victory at UFC 184 on Feb. 28 on Los Angeles.
“She’s gonna have to start fighting men if she walks through Cat Zingano,” White said after UFC Fight Night: Henderson vs. Thatch.
Rousey is an undefeated 10-0, all by finish. Only one woman, Miesha Tate, has been out of the first round with the UFC women’s bantamweight champion. “Rowdy” is coming off a 16-second knockout of Alexis Davis at UFC 175 last July.
“If Ronda Rousey walks through Cat Zingano the way she has walked through every body else, I don’t know what to do with her,” White said.
The UFC will likely have some options. There is Cris “Cyborg” Justino, the Invicta women’s featherweight champion, who the UFC is currently in negotiations with. Justino takes on Charmaine Tweet one day before and in the same city as UFC 184. There is speculation that “Cyborg” could be in attendance at Rousey-Zingano at Staples Center.
Then there’s Holly Holm, the former champion boxer. Holm meets Raquel Pennington in the co-main event of UFC 184. It’s clear she’s being groomed to be another future contender for Rousey, who also might take time off after the Zingano fight to continue with her budding movie career.
Of course, as White noted, beating Zingano will be no easy task. She’s coming off a third-round TKO of Amanda Nunes at UFC 178 last September. That was after being out for a year and a half dealing with a torn ACL and the suicide of her husband Mauricio.
“A lot of people believe, including myself, think that this is the toughest fight for Ronda Rousey, the toughest fight she’s ever had,” White said. “Cat Zingano after the huge layoff, the surgery looked insane in her last fight.”