#1 Cat Zingano creates UFC history
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‘Alpha’ Cat Zingano (9-2) is a former Ring of Fire Flyweight (FLW/125-pound) Champion and Bantamweight (BW/135-pound) Champion. She has also held titles at 125 and 135-pounds in the Fight to Win organisation.
Zingano is a four-time All-American National wrestling Champion and has excellent BJJ. Her MMA base is wrestling, BJJ and Muay Thai. Miesha ‘Cupcake’ Tate (19-7) is a former UFC and Strikeforce BW champion with an MMA base of wrestling, primarily relying on her submission grappling.
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Zingano faced Tate in a three-round BW matchup at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 17 finale event on April 13th, 2013. This fight carries a lot of historical significance not only in the UFC but in MMA as a whole.
The build-up to the fight was ugly with Tate’s boyfriend and UFC fighter Bryan Caraway allegedly elbowing Zingano to the back of her head at a UFC promotional event, and the fight itself was a tense back-and-forth affair. The pre-fight bad-blood showed during the match when Tate used Zingano’s face as support to get up after the second round ended.
In spite of this blatant disregard for the rules, in-fight referee Kim Winslow didn’t warn Tate and instructed a visibly angry Zingano to go to her corner. Zingano came out like a woman possessed in the third and final round and utilised her lethal Muay Thai striking to back Tate up against the fence.
She fired off a relentless volley of knees and a precise elbow to Tate’s head and body, downing her and forcing the referee to stop the fight.
This fight was one of the all-time classics in Women’s MMA (WMMA) and earned Zingano the distinction of becoming the first mother to compete inside the Octagon. Zingano also became the first female fighter to win a UFC fight by way of knockout/technical knockout.
In her post-fight Octagon interview, Zingano remained classy as usual showing appreciation for her opponent, doing her part to bury the hatchet with Tate and Caraway. Her post-fight celebration also included a primal scream (Well, she is a Cat!) that went viral on the internet.
Now what makes this moment even more touching is that it was the last time that Cat and her estranged husband Mauricio Zingano would indulge in their traditional post-fight celebration where Mauricio would lift her on his shoulders celebrating her win.
Mauricio and Cat would go their separate ways after Cat suffered a career-threatening knee injury and on January 13th 2014 Mauricio Zingano was found dead in what was apparently a suicide. Cat and Mauricio have a son named Brayden, who is often seen in the UFC promo videos in the lead-up to Cat’s UFC fights.
Zingano-Tate was a special fight, not only for the sport of MMA but also for the Zingano family. Here’s wishing Cat Zingano and her son the best of luck moving forward.
From ‘The Beast Incarnate’ to the ‘Alpha’ Cat, UFC fighters are highly skilled and are characterised by their tough personas; but make no mistake about it they are as human as you and me.
A few moments of sheer passion and emotion have made our list. As always, I’d like you, the reader, to chime in with examples that you feel could have made the list. Till then keep training and remember- MMA involves passion, just as much as it does the fisticuffs.
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