The UFC 182 card scheduled for January 3rd, 2015 in Las Vegas has added a female bantamweight title defense for Ronda Rousey as she gets Cat Zingano. Zingano moved her record to (9-0) with a win at this past weekend’s UFC 178 event over Amanda Nunes in a match that saw her compete for the first time in more than 15 months due to a serious knee injury.
Back in April of 2013, Zingano defeated Meisha Tate in a match that was to set her up opposite Rousey, but her injury while preparing for the fight led to Tate replacing her for the spot opposite Rousey. In her comeback test, Zingano looked strong in taking out Nunes early in the 3rd round after enduring a rocky round 1 that she probably lost on the cards.
As for Rousey, after a torrid start to 214 that saw her compete 3 times by July, she has been away from the cage while the UFC found someone to put her in against. Rousey was served up Sara McMann and Alexis Davis in her most recent outings, and the lines for both of those matches were very widespread. Zingano will keep it a bit closer, but Rousey will still be a dominant, prohibitive favorite when the line hits the sport books.
The match is the co-main event of the highly anticipated Jon Jones versus Daniel Cormier match for the Light Heavyweight title so the match will likely be on one of the UFC’s most watched cards. It will be interesting to see how the UFC handles the inevitable hype machine that surrounds a Rousey appearance. The UFC has been single minded in pushing Rousey’s dominance while neglecting what is becoming a very generic women’s division, and that could change with this match.
With Holly Holm on the roster and Cyborg Justino finally making 135 lbs, the UFC could potentially put a second women’s fight on the main card of that night, which would be an unprecedented first at this level. Their other cherry potential recruit, Gina Carano, could be put in that mix as well, though she is reported to have signed for a film with Robert DeNiro.
Let’s see if the UFC does anything to set yup Rousey’s next opponent, as Zingano is going to have to prove it in the octagon and beat Rousey or she will be relegated to the pile of people the champ has run over. No one outside of the Zingano camp is going to give her much of a chance before the fight.
