TUF 17 Finale Mandalay Bay Events Center Saturday, April 13, 2013 Three-round Women’s Bantamweight Bout: Cat Zingano (-130) vs. Miesha Tate (+100) Fight Breakdown: The second-ever UFC women’s fight takes place this Saturday night at the TUF 17 Finale as former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate takes on UFC newcomer Cat Zingano. Zingano is currently a -130 favorite (bet $130 to win $100) at Several Bookmakers, while Tate is the underdog at +100 (bet $100 to win $100). Zingano (7-0) will be fighting under the bright lights of the UFC for the first time in her career. The 30-year-old Colorado native is undefeated in her MMA career thus far, and has won six of her fights inside the distance, so it’s not surprising the public has come in on her early. The wife of BJJ black belt Mauricio Zingano is an extremely strong woman who has devastating knockout power as well as a slick submission game, and she holds notable victories over Barb Honchak, Carina Damm, and Raquel Pennington. One thing to keep in mind about Zingano though is that many of her fights have taken place at 125 pounds, so she might be at a slight size disadvantage in this fight against Tate. Her key to victory will be to keep the fight standing and use her superior striking because, while she is a very capable ground fighter, Tate is a very strong wrestler and is known for pulling submissions out of her hat, so Zingano needs to mitigate that risk by staying on the feet. Tate (13-3) will be making her UFC debut after a 5-2 stint in Strikeforce that saw her win the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title from Marloes Coenen in July 2011. The 26-year-old is a fantastic wrestler with excellent submission skills and she has more heart than most fighters in the sport. In her last fight against Julie Kedzie, Tate survived a huge head kick knockdown to come back and submit her opponent, while in her fight against Ronda Rousey for the title her arm turned into Gumby but she never wanted to tap. She is a warrior, and she is a winner, and it’s very difficult to bet against a fighter like her. However, Zingano is an excellent opponent who isn’t as shop worn as Tate, so we’ll see if all the damage Tate’s taken in her recent fights affects her negatively in this bout against Zingano, but we won’t find that out until Saturday. Fight Prediction: Another fight that could play out in many ways. I do see this being the “Fight of the Night” at the TUF 17 Finale, with both women displaying their skills and talents. However, I think the fight will come down to Tate’s wrestling, and she’ll be able to get Zingano down to the ground and eventually lock in a fight-ending submission that wins her the fight and sets up her rematch with Rousey. Adam’s Pick: Tate via submission (click for latest MMA odds) Adam’s Recommended Play: This is going to be a competitive fight but I’m very surprised that the public has been all over Zingano, which has made Tate the underdog. To me, that’s off. Tate should be the favorite in the fight, so considering she’s at even money right now, she might be worth a small bet. I say small because Tate has been hurt badly in her last two fights so she may be fading a bit, but until she loses to someone not named Ronda Rousey it’s hard to pick against her.
