UFC The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale Main Card Results - Cat Zingano vs Miesha Tate

Cat Zingano defeats Miesha Tate by TKO Round 3, 2:55

by John Haigh @JohnBjayHaigh

The second women’s fight in the UFC took place in Las Vegas on Saturday night at the TUF 17 finale.

From the opening bell Miesha Tate (13-4) started strong and was the constant aggressor, usually its Cat Zingano (8-0) as the early aggressor. Tate bombarded Zingano for the first round scoring takedowns and out striking Zingano on the feet.

Round two was mostly the same as the first, Tate again took Zingano to the mat and had her in trouble with a heel hook attempt but couldn’t quite lock it in. Zingano managed to fight her way out of danger with a reversal and turned the tide late in the round bloodying Tate up with a ground and pound attack. A very close round to call.

With Tate winning the first round and the second being very hard to call Zingano had to go for it at the start of the third and she certainly did that, finding her strength in the third and final round. Zingano took Tate to the mat and launched another ground and pound attack, landing punches and elbows. Tate did get the fight back to the feet but Zingano continued the pressure landing four straight knees to the head that had Tate dazed up against the cage . Zingano delivered one well placed elbow that dropped Tate to the mat, the referee had seen enough and called a stop to the action.

Zingano was very complimentary towards Tate after the fight saying “To be honest, I looked up to Miesha since I started this sport. I was scared to death of her, but I had no time to show it,”
“This is a dream come true. Everything that’s happened in my life has led me to this day.”

With the victory Zingano’s dream continues not only has she added to her undefeated streak but gets the chance to coach against Rhonda Rousey on TUF 18, the first series which will be coached by female coaches. Most importantly she gets her shot at the belt around Rousey’s waist, when the two meet at the end of the season.

Some will say it was a poor stoppage by the referee and Tate wasn’t given a chance to fight back. There was also a few other talking point within this fight and the Kingdom MMA staff will go in to this in detail later.
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