Women’s UFC bantamweight Cat Zingano is a mixed martial arts superstar. Now the fighting phenom has come forward to give the backstory behind her name.
Cat Zingano has put on a stunning performance in the sport of mixed martial arts. From former women’s UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate to now reigning title holder Amanda Nunes, Zingano has finished some seriously tough and talented competition.
With that in mind, the MMA phenom had some difficulty getting into the sport due to her stunning run as a wrestler. To get around the issue, the fighter began going by the moniker “Cat.”
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on the latest edition of The MMA Hour, Zingano offered some details on the reasoning for the name.
“When I started fighting. It’s interesting because before I got good at MMA, people didn’t know me as Cat, they knew me as CathieLee.”
“I started wrestling and if you looked up Cathielee Albert, all these wrestling accolades would show up and people would be like, ‘Hell no, I’m not fighting her’. So for to get my even a career started, I went by my nickname and then people would actually fight me.”
“So, I was able to get an amateur career, I was able to get an early professional career. And then it stuck. It’s weird to my family, it’s weird to people close to me, people who care about me, that I’m more known as Cat now than I am as Cathielee.”
“Yes, [My family still calls me Cathielee.]”
