After remaining undefeated in ten fights, Ronda Rousey will be defending her title for the fifth time against Cat Zingano at UFC 182 on January 3, 2015 in Las Vegas, which also features Jon Jones versus Daniel Cormier in the main event.
Bleacher Report wrote that the UFC women's bantamweight champion previously won her last two fights by knockout. She won her first eight matches by armbar. The Brazilian Zingano is also undefeated at 9-0 and last won over Amanda Nunes, after taking a 17-month hiatus due to a knee injury. Zingano earned a title shot against Rousey in 2013 after she won against Miesha Tate but her injury had to keep her out of action for over a year.
The 27-year-old Rousey's style of fighting involves a lot of judo, considering that she was a bronze medalist at the 2008 Summer Games. She has a tendency to start quickly, giving her opponents only a few minutes before she dominates the match. Her striking has also improved as proven by her two knockout wins. Her grappling skills are as lethal as ever. Rousey basically enters the fight being the odds-on favorite.
Zingano, 32, on the other hand, likes to take her time inside the Octagon. An article on MMA Fighting says she was a wrestling and jiu-jitsu expert before joining MMA in 2008. She beat Nunes in the third round after some trouble during the first to again become the top contender in the division. Zingano, however, tends to have suspenseful moments against her opponents which initially made fans think that she was about to lose the fight, but turned matters around in the last minute. The same thing happened in her fight against Tate, which she won in the third round. An aggressive opponent like Rousey would not give her that kind of chance.
Rousey has beaten her last 10 opponents in dominating fashion and there are only a few worthy female fighters in the UFC left to challenge her. Rousey defeated Miesha Tate twice. Zingano's athleticism might work to her advantage but it would be unlikely that she can turn things around in the third against the champion.
In a report by CageRank.com, Rousey has several advantages over Zingano such as her fast finish, better submission offense, stronger takedown offense and better takedown defense. Zingano has the advantage of being a heavy hitter and having a longer reach.