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MANILA, Philippines – The much-anticipated championship clash between UFC women’s bantamweight titlist Ronda Rousey and perennial contender Cat Zingano has been moved to the UFC 184 pay-per-view event on February 28, 2015 (March 1 in PH).
The five-round title tilt was originally scheduled to serve as the co-featured bout of UFC 182 on January 3 (January 4 in PH) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC president Dana White announced the change on Instagram, but no reason was given by the company head honcho.
Rousey is coming off a 16-second demolition of Alexis Davis at UFC 175 in July to extend her unbeaten record to 10 matches.
The 27-year-old “Rowdy” recently added another accolade to her résumé as she was named as the Best Female Athlete in the 2014 Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly (ESPY) Awards at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California last July 17.
Rousey became the first mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter to bag an ESPY award.
She was up against the likes of Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin, WNBA player Maya Moore and college baller Breanna Stewart in the Best Female Athlete category.
Rousey was also nominated for the “Best Fighter” citation alongside UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, boxing’s pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, renowned Filipino pugilist Manny Pacquiao and WBA super middleweight titleholder Andre Ward, but Mayweather took home the trophy for the third-straight time.
At the age of 17, Rousey emerged as one of the top female Judokas in the world, giving her the opportunity to qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Four years later, she captured the bronze medal at the Beijing Games, becoming the first American to win an Olympic medal in women’s judo bracket since its inception as an Olympic sport in 1992.
Rousey turned her attention to prizefighting in March 2011 and spearheaded her MMA career with eight-straight triumphs by armbar submission.
After moving up in the ranks to claim the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight belt, she was hailed as the UFC inaugural female champion in November 2012 when the organization was purchased by the world’s premier MMA promotion.
On the other hand, Zingano (9-0) made a triumphant return from a 17-month layoff by thwarting Amanda Nunes via third-round technical knockout at UFC 178 this past September.
The 32-year-old Zingano initially earned the right to vie for the 135-pound division’s top prize when she scored a third-round stoppage win over former Strikeforce titlist Miesha Tate at The Ultimate Fighter 17 season finale in April 2013, but a knee injury as well as the loss of her husband prevented her from capitalizing on the title shot.
UFC 184 is headlined by a middleweight championship showdown between current titleholder Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort. – Rappler.com
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