BERLIN – Cat Zingano is still the No. 1 contender, according to UFC President Dana White, but she’s taking a non-title detour before challenging women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
“She’s not ready now,” White said Thursday at a media scrum in support of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 41. “Ronda is going to fight, and then Ronda is going to take some time off.
“(Zingano has) been out for a long time, so it does make sense for her to come back, get a fight, (and) reintroduce her to everybody because she’s been gone for so long. If she came in and fought for the title and won it, she’d have to fight everybody anyway. That’s the way I always look at it. These guys that say, ‘I’m going to wait.’ If you believe you’re going to win the title, you’re going to have to fight all these people anyway. You might as well do it now.”
Zingano (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) hasn’t fought since April 2013, when she stopped Miesha Tate to win a coaching spot on “The Ultimate Fighter 18″ and a crack at Rousey’s title. But then her life took a turn for the worse when she blew her ACL, forcing her to bout out of the dual opportunities. Then, this past January, her husband committed suicide.
Although Rousey went on to fight Tate and Sara McMann, Zingano was still considered the No. 1 contender by White. He repeatedly said she would be first to challenge for the title when she returned.
Zingano this past March announced she was ready to come back and fight Rousey. But in subsequent weeks, White hedged on opening his arms to the fighter. Eventually, he said she wasn’t ready to fight and needed more time to recover.
Rousey (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC), meanwhile, is now set to fight Alexis Davis (16-5 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at July’s UFC 175, and White said to wait for the winner of that bout is unreasonable. He believes Zingano should have a warmup fight before moving on to a title shot.
“I think it’s 100 percent in her best interest to do this fight first,” said White. “She’s coming off a real hard time. Get a good tuneup fight in there, reintroduce her to everybody, and put her on a big FOX card. It makes all the sense in the world.”
White doesn’t have an opponent for the undefeated fighter, but still calls her the No. 1 contender. The sidestep is all part of the plan.
“I’ve been talking to her quite a bit,” he said. “This is a good thing for her; it’s not a negative thing, and she’s the No. 1 contender. But she’d just be waiting to come back, so it doesn’t make sense.”
http://mmajunkie.com/2014/05/white-...hould-have-warmup-fight-before-ufc-title-shot
“She’s not ready now,” White said Thursday at a media scrum in support of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 41. “Ronda is going to fight, and then Ronda is going to take some time off.
“(Zingano has) been out for a long time, so it does make sense for her to come back, get a fight, (and) reintroduce her to everybody because she’s been gone for so long. If she came in and fought for the title and won it, she’d have to fight everybody anyway. That’s the way I always look at it. These guys that say, ‘I’m going to wait.’ If you believe you’re going to win the title, you’re going to have to fight all these people anyway. You might as well do it now.”
Zingano (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) hasn’t fought since April 2013, when she stopped Miesha Tate to win a coaching spot on “The Ultimate Fighter 18″ and a crack at Rousey’s title. But then her life took a turn for the worse when she blew her ACL, forcing her to bout out of the dual opportunities. Then, this past January, her husband committed suicide.
Although Rousey went on to fight Tate and Sara McMann, Zingano was still considered the No. 1 contender by White. He repeatedly said she would be first to challenge for the title when she returned.
Zingano this past March announced she was ready to come back and fight Rousey. But in subsequent weeks, White hedged on opening his arms to the fighter. Eventually, he said she wasn’t ready to fight and needed more time to recover.
Rousey (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC), meanwhile, is now set to fight Alexis Davis (16-5 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at July’s UFC 175, and White said to wait for the winner of that bout is unreasonable. He believes Zingano should have a warmup fight before moving on to a title shot.
“I think it’s 100 percent in her best interest to do this fight first,” said White. “She’s coming off a real hard time. Get a good tuneup fight in there, reintroduce her to everybody, and put her on a big FOX card. It makes all the sense in the world.”
White doesn’t have an opponent for the undefeated fighter, but still calls her the No. 1 contender. The sidestep is all part of the plan.
“I’ve been talking to her quite a bit,” he said. “This is a good thing for her; it’s not a negative thing, and she’s the No. 1 contender. But she’d just be waiting to come back, so it doesn’t make sense.”
http://mmajunkie.com/2014/05/white-...hould-have-warmup-fight-before-ufc-title-shot
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