Cat Zingano teases upcoming 'epic' fight announcement and summer return to UFC

After more than a year on the sidelines, former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Cat Zingano appears poised to get back to work early this summer.

Zingano (9-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) on Friday teased an upcoming fight announcement from the UFC, saying the matchup will be “epic.” Zingano didn’t give a date or location to “Inside MMA” correspondent Ron Kruck on AXS TV, but said since her birthday is July 1, she’d either be getting a late present or an early one.

That leaves a few possibilities for the 33-year-old, who turns 34 this summer. UFC 199 is set for June 4 in Los Angeles, followed by UFC Fight Night 89 on June 18 in Ottawa, Canada. Then the UFC has three straight events in Las Vegas on July 7-8-9: UFC Fight Night 90, the TUF 23 Finale, and the historic UFC 200.

“I’m not looking past this opponent – this is a very, very valid opponent, and it’s going to be an exciting fight,” Zingano told Kruck on the show. “And I’m super stoked for what you guys get to see. I can’t be the one to break the news. But I’ll just tell you it’s going to be epic, and it’s going to be the beginning of the summer.”

We can rule one opponent out: new UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate (18-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC), who beat Holly Holm earlier this month to win the belt. Zingano holds a win over Tate – she stopped her with a third-round “Fight of the Night” TKO at the TUF 17 Finale in April 2013.

At the time, that got Zingano a coaching slot against then-champ Ronda Rousey on Season 18 of “The Ultimate Fighter” and a title shot afterward. But when Zingano blew out her knee, Tate was given the coaching spot and a rematch with Rousey while Zingano sat on the shelf.

After recovering from her injury, and surgery, Zingano stopped Amanda Nunes with a third-round TKO at UFC 178 17 months after her win over Tate, and that got her a shot at Rousey.

But that title fight in the UFC 184 main event in February 2015 was essentially a disaster. Mousey submitted Zingano in just 14 seconds, and Zingano hasn’t been back since the loss.

“I had some pretty big bumps bruises I needed to take care of, as far as physically,” Zingano said. “And just on the personal note, I’m doing all of this for me and my son, and that gives me a little more responsibility than any of these people have to deal with. I worked a lot on just the mental aspect of it. I took a trip to Thailand. I visited a bunch of different gyms that are places that I’ve always wanted to train, and get technique and education from people that I really look up to. I feel like I’ve improved 110 percent and I’m ready to go out there and showcase it.”

Zingano currently is ranked No. 4 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie women’s bantamweight MMA rankings behind Tate, Holm and Rousey. Immediately behind her in the rankings at 5-6-7 are Alexis Davis, Nunes and Sara McMann. She has the win over Nunes and McMann is booked for a fight with No. 10 Jessica Eye. Davis just had a baby and isn’t expected to return until late in the year.

Zingano said the UFC wanted her to have a “tune-up fight” rather than throwing her right into the title fray again against new champ Tate – even though that’s what Zingano would prefer.

“Being that I’ve had a year off, they really want me to come back and have a tune-up fight,” Zingano said. “The fight that I want the most, clearly, is Miesha. Seeing her win that fight (against Holm), and in the fashion she won that fight, definitely put a fire in my spirit to want to get back out there and fight her. When I blew my knee, I had just beaten Miesha, and Miesha off a loss to me was still handed my title shot. So I don’t really think the logistics of coming off a loss, or this or that, especially in this case, should really be stood by. But the UFC is going to do what they’re going to do. Obviously, that’s the fight I want.”

Regardless, the world should know fairly soon just who Zingano will meet next on her quest to get back to another shot at UFC gold.

Check out more from Zingano in her conversation with Kruck on “Inside MMA” in the video above.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.