With just one fight a year from 2011-2016, ex-UFC title challenger Cat Zingano says she has a fight booked

If Cat Zingano could put a few fights together, there may be no telling how far she could climb again.

It hasn’t been the easiest road for the 35-year-old former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger. It seems like injuries are a regular road block.

And those road blocks, in part, have meant Zingano fought just once in 2011, once in 2012, once in 2013 … you get the picture. She had just one fight a year for six years straight, from 2011-2016 – and she has yet to fight in 2017.

Might that change? There still is time, and there’s a big pay-per-view card to close out the year – UFC 219. Whether she makes the cut to get a fight in 2017 or not may not be as important as the mere notion that Zingano is saying she’s got a bout booked, though.

“Alpha Cat” posted on her Instagram account today that she has all the particulars – but stopped short of a full-on announcement.

“I have who. I have where. I know when. It’s time,” Zingano wrote.

I have who. I have where. I know when. It's time. #teamalphacat #alphacatzingano #catzinganomma #acz #ufc #fightlife

A post shared by Cat Zingano (@alphacatzingano) on Nov 16, 2017 at 7:26am PST

Zingano started her pro career 6-0 with five stoppages before going to Invicta FC in 2012. There, she submitted Raquel Pennington in her lone fight for the all-female promotion.

The UFC signed her to take on Miesha Tate, who was trying to work her way back to then-champ Ronda Rousey. But Zingano became a household name in women’s MMA with a third-round TKO at the TUF 17 Finale in Las Vegas.

That win got her a coaching spot opposite Rousey on “TUF 18,” as well as a title shot – but an injury and subsequent surgery scrapped both.

Zingano returned in September 2014 – nine months after her husband committed suicide – and took out Amanda Nunes with a third-round TKO to earn a shot at Rousey. But her title shot went awry immediately; she was submitted by Rousey’s famed armbar in just 14 seconds at UFC 184 in February 2015.

It was more than 16 months before Zingano was back again. At UFC 200 in July 2016, she dropped a decision to Julianna Pena, and we haven’t seen her in action since then.

The Rousey Era has been over for a while. She lost her title to Holly Holm, who lost it to Tate, who lost it to Nunes, who then tore through Rousey in less than a minute. Nunes most recently beat Valentina Shevchenko in a rematch.

So it seems the women’s bantamweight division could benefit from another title contender – and in Zingano, it would have one who has a stoppage win over the current champion.

First, though, Zingano will have to snap her two-fight skid against whomever the UFC has her booked against. Any predictions on whom it will be?

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie‘s official blog and is edited by Mike Bohn.