This past Saturday night in the co-main event of Bellator 293, there was a title eliminator in the women’s featherweight division. Former UFC title challenger “Alpha” Cat Zingano (14-4) was looking to remain perfect in the Bellator cage as she took on Leah McCourt (7-3).
When the fight first began, there was a little stalemate in terms of the grappling. We all know how physical and strong Zingano is in the wrestling. However, McCourt’s judo was expected to give Zingano a challenge and that’s what it did. McCourt was able to land takedowns in this fight.
However, McCourt struggled all night to keep a dominant position. Landing takedowns was not an issue for her. However, it seemed that every time she got the fight to the mat, she’d end up on her back. McCourt would even get incredible dominant positions only to lose them.
The power and finesse on the ground from Zingano was just too much. All night long Zingano would get the top position and throughout the night, she landed the bigger shots. Still, from takedowns alone, I thought the scorecards were going to be incredibly close.
However, they were not. Two judges had it 29-28 while one judge had it as a clean 30-27 sweep for Zingano at Bellator 293 punching her ticket to a title fight.
Bellator to book Cyborg – Zingano?
Leading up to the fight, Zingano made some interesting comments regarding Bellator champ Cris Cyborg (26-2). Comments including that she was told if she won she was going to be fighting for a vacant championship and she also said Cyborg was not under contract.
Bellator’s Scott Coker cleared these up in the post-fight press conference. Coker stated that Cyborg is in fact under contract with the promotion and they are actively negotiating with her. The goal is for her to return later this year and he made it clear that Zingano would be her opponent.
Since signing with Bellator, Zingano is now a perfect 4-0. While the performances aren’t anything to write home about, she’s got a decent name and she’s unbeaten in the promotion. It’s the biggest fight for Cyborg with the promotion and I think it’ll get booked in the late summer months this year.