UFC 184 Preview: ‘Day has come’ for Ronda Rousey to face Cat Zingano

Sometime after 9 p.m. on Saturday, under the bright lights of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey will finally put her stone cold stare on “Alpha” Cat Zingano.

In the spring of 2013, Zingano had earned the right to square off with Rousey for the UFC women’s bantamweight championship.

Injury and tragedy derailed Zingano’s opportunity at gold, but neither she nor Rousey has strayed from the undefeated path that leads them to the main event Saturday night at UFC 184.

“It’s been a little frustrating, because I need competition like Cat. I can’t do this by myself, I need a partner to dance with,” Rousey said. “I always knew that it would happen; it would happen eventually. I knew it wasn’t the kind of thing that she would just give up on and that there would be a day where everything would line up and it would be possible. That day has come. And I’m more than ready for it, I’ve prepared for it all this time.”

Rousey (10-0, 4-0 in UFC) and Zingano (9-0, 2-0) have a combined 19 victories to no losses and 18 finishes in those bouts. Despite the similarities on paper, Rousey is an overwhelming favorite, as the Glendale Fighting Club-trained champion is drawing odds in the neighborhood of -1250.

Being the underdog sits just fine with the challenger, however.

“No, I don’t mind, I mean it’s what do I have to lose? You know I’m going out there and I’m at the top, there’s nowhere higher to go and I’m just pumped to be here,” Zingano said in a prefight conference call. “And being the underdog, man I like that, I do. I think that it gives me a lot that I want to prove and a lot I want to show and it forces me to be authentic and to pull out my best stuff. So I think it’s fun.”

Perhap’s Zingano’s excitement at being “here” lies in just how tumultuous the journey has been.

In April of 2013, she fought and defeated Miesha Tate, taking a beating in the early going before rallying for a stoppage win. With the victory set to send Zingano to a championship bout and “The Ultimate Fighter” as an opposing coach versus Rousey, the Colorado-based fighter was instead sidelined with a knee injury that required surgery.

That paled in comparison to a subsequent personal tragedy, as Zingano’s husband Mauricio Zingano took his own life in January of 2014.

Zingano returned to action roughly 17 months after her triumph over Tate and once again looked to be on the verge of losing as she was battered in the first round by Amanda Nunes only to come back again, winning via third-round technical knockout.

Thus, combined with a stellar overall skill set that offers a background in wrestling, muay Thai and a black belt in jiu jitsu, Zingano’s fortitude would seem to be her most prevailing attribute.

“Well, I’m different. I know [Rousey] knows that, I know the whole promotion knows that,” Zingano said. “I have things to offer that people haven’t seen before and ... I just have to be me, I have to do me, go out there with my intensity and my aggression and I’m unstoppable, I know that.”

With a storm swirling around her, Zingano has displayed the ability to remain calm, survive and eventually prevail. But the storm of violence that is Rousey has yet to be survived, much less prevailed upon.

“Cat is different because not only is she undefeated, but she has that indomitable spirit that I haven’t really seen exhibited by any other opponent,” Rousey said. “She’s been down in fights before and every single time she’s come back to finish her opponent.

“I know I’m still better in every single area, but she’s definitely the most well-rounded fighter I’ve ever come across and she has the best mentality of any opponent I’ve come across.”

From her first amateur bout – a 23-second armbar submission of Hayden Munoz on Aug. 6, 2010 – to her latest UFC title defense – a 16-second knockout of Alexis Davis on July 5, 2014 – Rousey has been a tour de force of finishing ferocity.

Perhaps most frightening is she’s improved, adding a significant striking game to her arsenal of elite-level judo that already put her as one of the sport’s most feared grapplers and submission artists. Under the tutelage of GFC’s Edmond Tarverdyan, Rousey’s overall game has prospered, leading to knockout wins over Sara McMann and Davis in her last two bouts.

“She always has something exciting coming up,” Tarverdyan said. “Last two fights I’ve called it. I said that she was gonna win [against McMann] with a liver shot knockout; she did that. Last one [against Davis] I said overhand right; she did that.

“This one, guess what? I’m not gonna tell anybody what’s going to happen, because I want everyone to come watch her, what her skills are. She has a surprise for everyone, she has some new tricks.”

While Rousey has famously finished every one of her bouts, Zingano isn’t all that far behind. She has ended eight of her nine professional bouts inside the distance, five via knockout and three by submission. Zingano’s only decision victory was a unanimous verdict in her third career bout and it came against Barb Honchak, who is currently the Invicta flyweight (125 pounds) champion.

“I think she’s also the most well-rounded,” Rousey said. “She’s a very strong grappler, but everybody knows her for her striking.”

While showcases of tenacity and heart have become synonymous with Zingano, with them have come notoriously slow starts. For the majority of Rousey’s opponents, the start has been the end, as she’s tallied seven wins inside a minute’s time.

“You could be your best in the first round, but Ronda’s still gonna get the best of you,” Tarverdyan said.

As with any of Rousey’s fights since she’s been in the UFC, myriad questions arise about whether the amount of media she takes on along with outside endeavors – she’s currently in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and is in upcoming movies “Entourage” and “Furious 7” – will play a part in the fight, having distracted her from the combat at hand. But for the 28-year-old who has seemingly made “compartmentalizing” one of her favorite words and established attributes, it has yet to be a deterrent to victory.

“She doesn’t mix everything together,” Tarverdyan said. “She knows when to do what.

“She knows exactly what made her into what she is because of how great she has fought. And she respects that and she understands that it’s all because of her fighting career. “

Like Zingano, Rousey is also coming off an injury, having undergone knee surgery and a bout with an injured knuckle. It’s nothing new for her, though, as her first severe knee injury came when she was a teenager and the subsequent surgery was the precursor to her mercurial rise in judo in which she became a two-time United States Olympian and a bronze medalist.

“I’ve been dealing with injuries my whole life,” Rousey said. “I got my first knee surgery when I was 16 years old.”

Through tragedy, triumph, injuries, hard-fought victories and dominant glory, Rousey and Zingano have finally arrived to the octagon together.

And so on Saturday night, Zingano will finally get the opportunity to face Rousey.

Should Zingano claim victory, it would go down as a monumental upset and likely shake up women’s mixed martial arts more so than any other previous bout.

If Rousey prevails, it’s likely to be just another chapter – literally and figuratively – in what has already become an amazing novel of a career.

“Me and my sister submitted the first draft right before New Year’s and I have suspended working on it at all until after I beat Cat,” Rousey said on a prefight conference call in regards to her upcoming autobiography. “So as soon I’m done dealing with her then I will go back to dealing with the book.”