Pics: Cat Zingano Transforms, Sheds 30 Pounds Prior To UFC 200

“Alpha” Cat Zingano has gone through some rough times both inside and outside of the Octagon. The former UFC title challenger hasn’t competed since suffering a disappointing 14 second loss to then champion Ronda Rousey in February 2015. Since then, Zingano has endured some personal hardships that have kept her out of action, and as

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“Alpha” Cat Zingano has gone through some rough times both inside and outside of the Octagon. The former UFC title challenger hasn’t competed since suffering a disappointing 14 second loss to then champion Ronda Rousey in February 2015.

Since then, Zingano has endured some personal hardships that have kept her out of action, and as a result, she ended up packing on some unwanted weight. As a bantamweight, “Alpha” competes at a weight of 135-pounds, but her weight shot up to 175-pounds in her time away.

Zingano is now finally set to make her return to action against rising contender Julianna Pena at the upcoming UFC 200 card on July 9, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The former title challenger has appeared to take this fight quite seriously, as she has put herself through a slow transformation to get her body back in tip top shape.

Taking to her official Instagram account recently, Zingano released multiple photos showing her drop down from 175-pounds to her current weight at 145-pounds. Check it out below:

Zingano’s weight looks to be right on par given the time frame of her fight, and one would have to think that she’s beyond motivated to prove that she still belongs amongst the bantamweight elite after the long layoff.

How do you see her upcoming fight playing out?

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Miesha: Cyborg’s ‘A Very Big Girl,’ But I Have The Heart & Technique

Just over two weeks ahead of her first-ever UFC title defense against Amanda Nunes on the main card of July 9’s blockbuster UFC 200 event from Las Vegas, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate knows there are some absolutely huge fights awaiting her if she can get past “The Lioness.” She can’t look past the fast-starting

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Just over two weeks ahead of her first-ever UFC title defense against Amanda Nunes on the main card of July 9’s blockbuster UFC 200 event from Las Vegas, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate knows there are some absolutely huge fights awaiting her if she can get past “The Lioness.”

She can’t look past the fast-starting (and oftentimes, fading) challenger, but it’d be impossible to not eye say, a trilogy bout against former champ Ronda Rousey or a huge superfight of sorts versus Invicta FC featherweight champ Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino, who just made her UFC debut in May. Speaking during a media luncheon in Hollywood, California, today (via MMA Fighting), ‘Cupcake’ expressed her obvious excitement of fighting the dominant ‘Cyborg’:

“I think it would be really cool to fight Cyborg, honestly,” Tate said. “Like to really see what it’s like to be in there with someone with her power. … I’ll be the first to admit, physically I think I would be at a disadvantage, but I think that I can be the one to prove that I have the heart, the durability, the determination and the will power — and technique — to overcome that kind of challenge. And that intrigues me. That would be very rewarding to me.”

Tate had previously teased a move up to 140 pounds in order to fight ‘Cyborg,’ and Justino actually made that weight for his first UFC bout, a UFC 198 win over Leslie Smith. But ‘Cupcake’ finally received a much-deserved title shot against then-champion Holly Holm at March’s UFC 196, and capitalized by securing an emphatic come-from-behind submission to rip the belt from ‘The Preacher’s Daughter.’

That obviously complicated things, so Tate revealed that while her opinion on the matter hasn’t necessarily changed, she’s not sure if she can galavant between weight classes as featherweight champ Conor McGregor has seemingly been doing:

“It hasn’t changed, but the thing is, is I don’t know if I can not fight for the belt while I’m the champion,” Tate said. “I don’t know how that works. I’m not Conor McGregor. He has like his own set of rules. I’m not really sure. I wouldn’t be opposed to it. But I think it would be better if we did make it a title fight. At some point if that comes down and it’s allowed, like of course.”

Weight always seems to be the issue with any top female fighter facing ‘Cyborg,’ whose long-rumored feud with Rousey turned out to be only rumors when ‘Rowdy’ said she’d have to make bantamweight and Justino ultimately said it was too much. But she did hit 139 on the scales prior to her win over Smith in her native Curitiba, Brazil, so Tate believes that while ‘Cyborg’ is obviously a huge competitor, she can make the bantamweight limit of 135 pounds – even if it is tough – nonetheless:

“I think she can make 135 pounds, but yeah, she’s a very big girl,” Tate said. “She’s naturally big and I’m sure that it would be really a difficult cut for her. She’d have to lose muscle. She wouldn’t just be able to lose the water weight. She’d have to come down.”

A Tate-Cyborg tilt for the belt would be a massive spectacle, yet the UFC may want to book ‘Cupcake’ against Rousey, Holm, or even the winner of UFC 200’s Julianna Pena vs. Cat Zingano match-up first, and with ‘Cyborg’s’ UFC future uncertain as of now, the belt could be around another woman’s waist when the chance to book it even legitimately arose.

Then again, it could just be the biggest fight to make in women’s MMA for later this year if Rousey ends up not returning until next year. After nearly retiring with her position in the division up in the air only 18 months ago, the future is all of the sudden bright for Tate.

All she has to do is keep winning.

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Julianna Pena Willing To Fight Good Friend Miesha Tate For Title

The UFC women’s bantamweight title picture may be a bit messy due to the uncertain return of former champion Ronda Rousey, but current champion Miesha Tate will still defend her championship against Amanda Nunes on the main card of UFC 200 directly after quickly rising Julianna Pena faces off against Cat Zingano in the featured preliminary

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The UFC women’s bantamweight title picture may be a bit messy due to the uncertain return of former champion Ronda Rousey, but current champion Miesha Tate will still defend her championship against Amanda Nunes on the main card of UFC 200 directly after quickly rising Julianna Pena faces off against Cat Zingano in the featured preliminary card bout.

The winner of three straight bouts capped off by a dominant decision win over Jessica Eye at last year’s UFC 192, the No. 5 Pena is now looking to burst into the upper echelon of women’s MMA by defeating former title contender Zingano, who’s been out of action for almost 15 months following her 14-second loss to Rousey at 2015’s UFC 184. If and when she does, Pena told FOX Sports she believes it should earn her a title shot:

“I definitely think so. I beat everybody that they put in front of me, from all those girls on “The Ultimate Fighter” to everybody they’ve put in front of me since. No one else has been on that big of a win streak besides Ronda (Rousey) and I think that I definitely have earned getting a title shot.”

While that could be the case, realistically there’s more of a chance for Rousey to get the next title shot when she decides to return, and if she doesn’t, No. 1-ranked Holly Holm, who infamously beat Rousey and recently lost her belt to Tate via fifth-round submission, will face Valentina Shevchenko at July’s UFC on FOX 20 from Chicago, where a win could see her vaulted back into her desired title rematch.

But Pena is still considered an eventual title contender at 135 pounds regardless, so “The Venezuelan Vixen” has already begun discussing a potential fight with her good friend and former TUF 18 coach Tate, and it’s a fight they’ll apparently both accept:

“Me and Miesha have discussed fighting each other. We said the only way we would fight each other is if her or I had the belt,” Pena said. “Now that she has the belt and I get my hand raised be it July 9, I will ask for a title shot. I only think that that’s right.

“I’m sure she will accept, be it that she wins, which I’m sure she will.”

It sounds a good plan, and four straight wins would be tough to deny. The shadow of Rousey and Holm will always loom large, however, so Pena will have to defeat Zingano very impressively to leapfrog the gargantuan contenders currently ahead of her on the 135-pound order.

With Rousey and Holm’s results and plans unknown, that may just be a distant possibility for the near future.

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Friday Link Dump: Nurmagomedov Gets an Opponent, GSP Gets a History Channel Show, Dirty Jokes in Kid’s Cartoons + More

(UFC 200: Road to the Octagon)

Khabib Nurmagomedov Remains on UFC on FOX 19 Card With Short-Notice Opponent (MMAJunkie)

UFC 199 Headliners React to New CSAC Weight-Cutting Rules (MMAFighting)

Kenny Florian Set to Compete at IBJJF NY Open (BloodyElbow)

Cat Zingano vs Julianna Pena Official for UFC 200 in July (MMAMania)

The post Friday Link Dump: Nurmagomedov Gets an Opponent, GSP Gets a History Channel Show, Dirty Jokes in Kid’s Cartoons + More appeared first on Cagepotato.


(UFC 200: Road to the Octagon)

Khabib Nurmagomedov Remains on UFC on FOX 19 Card With Short-Notice Opponent (MMAJunkie)

UFC 199 Headliners React to New CSAC Weight-Cutting Rules (MMAFighting)

Kenny Florian Set to Compete at IBJJF NY Open (BloodyElbow)

Cat Zingano vs Julianna Pena Official for UFC 200 in July (MMAMania)

Shogun Rua & Anderson Silva React To Keyboard Warriors (LowKick)

Georges St-Pierre Goes Digging for Dinosaurs in New TV Series (FoxSports)

Hardcore Henry Review (Screen Junkies)

Judging Grand Theft Auto V (Escapist)

26 Dirty Jokes Hidden In Kid’s Cartoons (Photos)
(Radass)

#HillarySoQualified Hashtag Backfires, Hillary Gets Roasted (EveryJoe)

10 Dating “Tips” in Chick Flicks You Should Never Try in Real Life (MadeMan)

The post Friday Link Dump: Nurmagomedov Gets an Opponent, GSP Gets a History Channel Show, Dirty Jokes in Kid’s Cartoons + More appeared first on Cagepotato.

Cat Zingano, Julianna Pena Will Meet At UFC 200

To get to the UFC female bantamweight title, Julianna Pena must go through a former contender.

Pena will meet Cat Zingano this July as part of UFC 200 from Las Vegas. The card will also include Miesha Tate defending the 135-pound belt against Amanda…

cat-zingano

To get to the UFC female bantamweight title, Julianna Pena must go through a former contender.

Pena will meet Cat Zingano this July as part of UFC 200 from Las Vegas. The card will also include Miesha Tate defending the 135-pound belt against Amanda Nunes.

Following her victory on The Ultimate Fighter, Pena (7-2) spent over a year on the sidelines recovering from a knee injury. She returned in 2015 with wins over Milana Dudieva and Jessica Eye.

Zingano (9-1) saw her unbeaten run come to a screeching halt at the hands of Ronda Rousey for the belt at UFC 184, suffering a quick submission loss. She was recently sidelined with an injury of her own.

Joining those two bouts will be Nate Diaz-Conor McGregor, Jose Aldo-Frankie Edgar for the interim featherweight title and Cain Velasquez-Travis Browne.

Cat Zingano Has A Huge Fight At UFC 200

Former title challenger Cat Zingano has her long-awaited return to the Octagon scheduled. The No. 3-ranked ‘Alpha,’ who was last seen losing a 14-second title bout to Ronda Rousey at UFC 184 in February 2015, will meet surging No. 4 Julianna Pena at July 9’s stacked UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) event from the new T-Mobile Arena in

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Former title challenger Cat Zingano has her long-awaited return to the Octagon scheduled.

The No. 3-ranked ‘Alpha,’ who was last seen losing a 14-second title bout to Ronda Rousey at UFC 184 in February 2015, will meet surging No. 4 Julianna Pena at July 9’s stacked UFC 200 pay-per-view (PPV) event from the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

ESPNW broke the news today:

Zingano earned No. 1 contender status in her first-ever UFC fight, finishing current champion Miesha Tate in the third round a gritty come-from-behind win at 2013’s The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 17 Finale. She was unable to serve as coach opposite Ronda Rousey on TUF 18 due to an injured knee, however, and Tate took her place. She returned to the Octagon at UFC 178 in September 2014, topping current title challenger Amanda Nunes via TKO.

The win earned her the title shot at Rousey. Fans have been awaiting her next fight ever since.

Pena, on the other hand, exploded on the UFC scene as the winner of the female contract on TUF 18, but she too dealt with a very serious knee injury that kept her out of action for over a year before she returned to defeat Milana Dudieva in 2015. She then beat Jessica Eye at UFC 192 to solidify her place among the top female bantamweights in MMA.

Zingano teased an ‘epic return’ and many thought hse was referring to a bout with Cris ‘Cyborg’ or Holly Holm, but if she can get past ‘The Venezuelan Vixen,’ she’ll no doubt be dangerously close to the title shot she wants for redemption.

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