- Cat Zingano wants further drug testing if ever she gets to earn a shot at Cris Cyborg
- “Alpha” said an offer to fight Cyborg is impossible due to licensing issues but the Brazilian is not buying it
Bellator stars Cat Zingano and Cris Cyborg have been having a back and forth since last year but nothing is concrete to this day. Zingano insisted that an offer to fight the champ was never made and she is instead booked for a showdown with Pam Sorenson at Bellator 282.
With a win over Sorenson likely to secure her a shot at the title, Zingano laid out her demand before facing Cyborg.
Cat wants to be sure
During a media teleconference on Wednesday, Zingano said she wants an “independent testing” to be done on her and Cyborg if ever they ended up facing each other for the Bellatoe women’s featherweight strap.
“Independent testing for both of us — [an] independent resource, just making sure there are no biases, there’s no people that we know, and just making sure everything is fair,” Zingano said.
The same issue already generated buzz earlier this year when Zingano accused Cyborg of refusing to be tested, prompting her to take the Sorenson fight instead. The Brazilian, on the other hand, quickly refuted it and said that “Alpha” was just making excuses as she is aware of what the outcome of their fight will be.
As for Zingano’s demand for independent testing, it appears that it is unlikely to happen as it has not been a practice of Bellator. Instead, the promotion relies on the state athletic commissions, who are also the governing bodies that regulate their events, for that matter.
Another back and forth
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Zingano lifted the lid on the true situation about her highly-anticipated match against Cyborg. According to the 39-year-old, she has learned that an offer is not possible at the moment due to the complications of licensing and other legalities.
“I wasn’t offered that fight, for one,” she told MMA Fighting. “I know coming into Bellator, we talked about how that was going to be a fight that we had for sure. I know also coming into Bellator, all of my footage of fighting was in the UFC — there was licensing stuff there, so they can’t promote me and they can’t use any of my fight videos or highlights, can’t even really talk about me without it being a licensing thing with the UFC. So they really wanted me to fight fights here and get tape, get reel, give me good matches against good 145-pound girls, and I’m relatively new to this weight class. So putting me in there and figuring it out, I wasn’t offered Cyborg.”
“I did tell them in the beginning there were things that I want to do, where both of us would do [it], to make sure it’s a fair fight, and to make sure it’s a safe fight. And with those guidelines, it just never came out. Every time we talked about the fight being between us, or she was calling me out online or I was saying something about her out online, I was kind of waiting for the phone calls, and the phone calls would come, but it was never her name.”
Cyborg, on the other hand, has no interest in what Zingano’s licensing issues are. Instead, she sees it as a sign of cowardice.
“Sounds like Cat Zingano doesn’t want to fight,” she wrote in a message to MMA Fighting. “Hopefully she enjoys being on the YouTube prelims.”
Zingano has been unbeaten in Bellator and is set to face Sorenson this weekend. Aside from a title fight with Cyborg, “Alpha” previously admitted that she also fancies taking on UFC’s Julianna Pena once again.
