Undefeated Cat Zingano made it clear that she wanted to face women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey next.
On September 27, Zingano won over Amanda Nunes in domination fashion. The fight was stopped in the third round after Nunes obviously could not take any more punishment from Zingano's ground-and-pound hits. Nunes, who won three of her four last fights, was aggressive in the first round, which made it look as if Zingano was just a few strikes away from getting knocked out. Zingano, however, rebounded in the same manner when she defeated Miesha Tate in 2013. Zingano continued to gain strength and energy as Nunes faltered.
In a report by Yahoo Sports, UFC president, Dana White, said at the UFC 178 post-fight news conference, "You probably didn't hear it, but she was screaming at me after the fight. She ran over and started screaming, 'Do you see me? Do you see me?' I said, 'Yes, I see you.'"
White confirmed that Rousey will fight Zingano next. The fight will probably happen on January 3, 2015, which also features the postponed match between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier. White reportedly said, "This was the 'shut-up-about-Gina-Carano fight. I think that's what Cat, the statement she wanted to make tonight. She made it loud and clear."
Zingano had been out of the Octagon for 17 months, Yahoo Sports added. In April 2013, she debuted in the UFC and won against Miesha Tate, a former Strikeforce champion. After that win, she was supposed to coach on "The Ultimate Fighter 18" plus a chance to take Rousey's title. However, suffered a knee injury and had to bow out of the show and fight opportunity against Rousey.
While Zingano was out, Rousey was pitted against other challengers like Alexis Davis, Miesha Tate and Sara McMann, all of whom Rousey defeated. There were talks of a matchup between Rousey and Gina Carano, Cris "Cyborg" Justino or Bethe Correia, but with Zingano's recent dominating win, she becomes the next most viable opponent for the champ. Zingano showcased a variety of textbook and unorthodox moves at UFC 178 and has the mental strength to make an interesting opponent for Rousey.
Zingano told MMA Junkie, "I was really pushing to get through this fight and I just had to get through this one and then I could look at the horizon."
She also said, "Let's go, I'm ready. I have all the respect in the world for Ronda Rousey, but this is my time."