Cat Zingano On Amanda Nunes: ‘I Was A Mess And I Still Broke Her And Made Her Quit’

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Cat Zingano hasn’t competed since her loss to Julianna Pena at UFC 200, but she’s back to fitness now and ready to make her latest comeback.

With her return date now set for UFC 222 on march 3 against Ketlen Vieira, Zingano now has her eyes back on the title and facing a woman she’s already beaten, Amanda Nunes.

Zingano vs Nunes took place at UFC 178 in Sept. 2014 in what Zingano’s first back since losing her husband who committed suicide earlier in the year. Nunes got the better of the opening round, but Zingano fought back in round two before finishing Nunes in round three in an incredible comeback victory. Speaking on UFC Unfiltered Podcast this week, Zingano spoke about her win over Nunes and how she doesn’t understand that the point of view that the result would be different if the two fought again now.

“First of all, you said ‘at my best’ and if you’re thinking in my first fight back when I blew my knee and after my husband passed away, when my coach, my gym and when my everything is gone, that it was my best? Then that’s not right,” Zingano said.

“Here’s what I want to say. I constantly hear people say ‘she’s got better since then and that it wouldn’t happen again,’ but how do you think I haven’t got better since then? I haven’t stopped training for one, and two, everything was in her favour in that fight. I was a mess and I still broke her and made her quit. That’s the difference. She quit and she wanted to go home.”

With the two fighters having gone on very different paths since that fight, Zingano isn’t afraid to admit that she now must prove she’s worth of challenging Nunes one again. One thing Zingano doesn’t understand however, is why the champion isn’t wanting to get her revenge given Zingano holds a win over her.

“My point is, that fight, and she knows it, that’s why every single time anything has come up with her or and people start throwing her at me, she says ‘oh sure, I’d love to fight Cat, I mean, after she gets another win.’ So I get it.

“I get that I need to fight [my way] back and I’m happy to do that. I like earning my food, but I’ve never stopped training and I’ve never stopped improving, not just in the gym, but at life. I’m excited to have that fight and it’s weird for me to be calling her out. If I was a champion I’d want to get back on anyone that scored one me ever. It would be totally different.”