It is quite exciting and captivating to see women throwing punches right in the face of the opponent in the bar. Breaking a stigma of male-dominated industry and establishing herself in the field of mixed martial arts (MMA), it so good to see.
If you are a fan of mixed martial arts, you would know about Cat Zingano.
Cathleen Deborah Zingano, called a ‘Cat Zingano,’ is a professional American mixed martial artist affiliated with Bellator, MMA, and previously in Ultimate Fighting Championship. Zingano is ranked in the top seven official UFC bantamweight as of July 15, 2019.
Cat is the first woman ever to win an Ultimate Fighting Championship by technical knockout in 2013.
Also, MMARising.com has ranked her as the #5 pound-for-pound female MMA fighter in the world.
Watching WWE during her early age made an impression on her, and finally, she persuaded her passion into action by making a pro-MMA debut on June 13, 2008.
Let’s take a journey of this 38 years old excellent MMA fighter’s early life, facts, career, and personal life.
Quick Facts about Cat Zingano
| Full Name | Cathleen Deborah Zingano |
| Other Name | Cat Zingano |
| Birth Date | July 1, 1982 |
| Birth Place | Winona, Minnesota, United States of America |
| Residence | Denver, Colorado, United States of America |
| Nickname | Alpha |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Education | Fairview High School |
| Horoscope | Cancer |
| Father’s Name | Jon Albert |
| Mother’s Name | Barbara Albert |
| Siblings | Two (older brother & older sister) |
| Age | 42 Years Old |
| Height | 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm) |
| Weight | 65 kg (135 lbs) |
| Bra Cup Size | 34B |
| Build | Athletic |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Hair Color | Brown |
| Profession | Mixed Martial Artist (MMA) |
| Active years (Senior Career) | 2008 – present (professional player) |
| Association | Bellator MMA, Women’s Featherweight Division |
| Sexual Orientation | Straight |
| Marital Status | Single (2014) |
| Ex-husband | Late. Mauricio Zingano (Married 2010 ) |
| Boyfriend | Unavailable |
| Children | 1 son (Brayden) |
| Net Worth | $2 million |
| Social Media | Twitter, Instagram |
| Merch | Books, Autographed Items |
| Last Update | December, 2024 |
Cat Zingano – Early Life, Parents, Education & Horoscope
For most of you, who have wondered how the Cat landed in MMA’s field in the first place? Since her childhood, she was very interested in wrestling and spent most of her time watching World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
Cat was born on July 1, 1982, in Winona, Minnesota, United States of America. She was born as the youngest of three children to parents Jon Albert & Barbara Albert.
Cat has two older siblings; a brother called Shawn & a sister called Adrienn. She is currently 38 years old and one of the most famous faces in MMA.
At 12 years of age, Cat started her career in combat sports with wrestling. Cat has completed her high school at Fairview High School, Boulder, Colorado, and there is no information about her further higher studies.
During high school, she joined combat sports after joining the wrestling team.
Joining combat sports in her college eventually led her to be e a part of both the University of the Cumberland’s and MacMurray College Women’s wrestling team.
She became four times all American and National Champion. Winning a title was the motivation factor or a starter in Zingano’s career, and after that, she has not looked back.
Zingano’s horoscope chart shows that she belongs to the cancer horoscope. Some of the significant behavioral traits of Cancer are that they are very challenging to get to know, very sentimental & caring.
We got to see the sentimental side of this fierce & hardcore MMA fighter after her husband’s death, how she expressed her feelings for him.
Cat Zingano | career
Zingano’s Early Career
The cat was a very competitive woman before her debut on June 13, 2008; she had already become a four-time all-American and National champion.
Before beginning her early career in MMA, Cat Zingano learned about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). She started to claim her victories and opened a door for her career.
For some of you, who are unaware of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ), it is a form of self-defense martial art and combat sports based on grappling, submission holds.
It mainly focuses on taking the opponent to the ground. Also, it was the place where her romantic relationship started with Mauricio Zingano.
In continuation of Cat’s first journey, she won several tournaments in her early career days, such as The Rio de Janeiro State Championships in Brazil, The World Championships (Mundials) in Los Angeles, including various state titles championship in Colorado.
Cat Zingano – Professional Career
It was the year 2008 when Cat realized that she always wanted to join and compete in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).
Simultaneously, her passion for MMA led her to debut in professional MMA at Ring of Fire 32, and she faced Karina Taylor with an armbar in the first round. Cat defeated Karina by technical knockout in 2nd round.
On May 14, 2011, Cat faced Takayo Hashi at Fight to Win: Outlaws, and no doubt she defeated Takayo during knockout in the 3rd round.
Winning back-to-back fight in MMA gained her popularity, and Cat was approached in 2013 to participate in the second women’s match in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) history.
Cat Zingano fought against Meisha Tate in a dubbed fight of the night, and Cat easily defeated Meisha in the 3rd round. UFC’s triumph made her the first-ever woman to win a UFC fight by technical knockout (TKO).
The victory in UFC was so iconic, which made her famous & strengthen her MMA career.
Cat Zingano – Career Statistics
Zingano is one hell of a brave fighter. Watching her fight on the octagon is indeed a treat to the eyes.
You can see her career statistics on the website of Tapology.
Cat Zingano’s Current Affiliation in Bellator MMA
Cat Zingano signed Bellator, MMA, on October 29, 2019. Zingano faced Gabrielle Holloway at Bellator 245 on September 11, 2020, for her promotional debut. Cat defeated Gabrielle by a Unanimous decision.
Cat Zingano | Body Measurement
Zingano is famous and admired for her sexy looks. Cat is an MMA fighter and enforced by her fighter profession; she has maintained a lean & jacked body.
She has athletic body buildup with abs & bicep; Zingano is a fitness freak and uses the gym for body maintenance.
Cat Zingano stands 5 ft. 6 inches (1.68m) tall and weighs 65 kg (135 lbs). Specifically, she has brown eyes with brown hair, but she likes to experiment with her hair and occasionally colors in different color highlights.
Cat Zingano |Personal Life, Husband
The cat was fortunate enough to tie a knot with her longtime boyfriend, Mauricio Zingano, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) black belt holder in 2010.
During her BJJ training, she met Mauricio, where Mauricio was the coach of Cat, and they started dating soon after that.
Mauricio was the owner of a training facility equipped with two gyms, which provides extensive training on BJJ in Colorado, name Zingano BJJ.
In addition to that, Mauricio was a professional BJJ fighter, but he slowly developed his interest in teaching and training other fighters.
Before Cat met Mauricio, She had a son named Brayden from her previous affair. As soon as Cat & Mauricio got married, Mauricio instantly adopted Cat’s son Brayden after getting married. There is no information about Cat’s previous affairs & Brayden’s father.
Cat Zingano – 2014’s Tragedy
Zingano faced the biggest tragedy of her life in 2014 when her husband Mauricio committed suicide and passed away at 37.
Cat was left in shock & melancholy when she found out that she lost her soul mate. Zingano wrote a long, emotional, heart-wrenching letter remembering good times with Mauricio.
Cat has an image of the toughest woman, but post-incident of Mauricio suicide, she says dark thoughts often accompany her.
After the incident of Cat’s husband’s death, it turned her life upside down. To create awareness for mental health, She has also joined a mental health-related program and talked about the early signs of suicide.
There is no information regarding the reason for Mauricio’s suicide; however, an autopsy report said it was pure suicide. Cat says now she realized that her husband has long-term depression.
Cat Zingano – Health Problem
The year 2013 & 2014 was the worst in Cat Zingano’s life. In 2013, she was accompanied by a knee injury for which she had to undergo Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and stem cell treatment on both her knees.
She was out of sports for almost a year and a half. In 2014 Cat lost her husband, and after that, she was broken.
Cat is very serious about her career and worships her career; she never grows tired of it. She is a person who is always open to learning & seeks improvement in advance. Despite her biggest grieve of losing her husband, she is the ultimate fighter.
Cat Zingano’s Brain Damage
Cat Zingani underwent brain damage in mid-2016. It was after her fight with Amanda Nunes.
Zingani remembers feeling dizzy in the octagon. The aftermath was equally fatal, with her not being able to face light for another month.
Moreover, she gained 30 pounds as her pituitary gland got knocked around, and her hormones were unbalanced.
It was indeed a difficult time for Cat. She remembers getting scared especially because she was the only parent her kid has, and she could not let him down.
Here’s a raw interview of Zingano:
Cat Zingano – Documentary
Zingano’s life has been a heck of a roller coaster. She has seen ups and a series of downs.
The religion of Sports (YouTube channel) filmed Zingano’s life in a raw and emotional manner. They covered everything from her childhood, the beginning of her love for combat sports, her UFC journey along with her UFC 17 and UFC 178 victories, and her UFC 184 14 second loss to Ronda Rousey.
Moreover, they dealt with Cat’s very personal and emotional journey of losing her husband and training partner, Mauricio Zingano, to suicide.
They beautifully demonstrated both of her lives, i.e., inside and outside of the octagon. Her’s the documentary:
Cat Zingano – Net Worth
Zingano is a very successful MMA fighter; she has played a total of 15 matches in her professional record breakdown, and out of which, she has won 11 matches.
Due to her very competing career, she had made a Net Worth of $2 million. However, her salary is not disclosed yet, but her lifestyle is impressive.
Cat drives the Alpha Romeo car, which is one of the expensive cars in the world. Also, She has a magnificent mansion in San Diego and two training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) facilities in Colorado.
Cat Zingano – Social Media Presence
Zingano is very active in social media; she is with ‘alphacatzingano‘ on Instagram with over 539k plus followers.
Cat mostly post about her training and MMA clips on her Instagram. In addition to that, one can see from her Instagram post that she is a huge dog lover and also has made combined Instagram of her two dogs as ‘catdogzz.‘
Cat is also on Twitter as an ‘Alpha Cat Zingano‘ with 256K plus followers, mostly about the MMA fights.
Similarly, you can follow her on Facebook at Cat Zingano MMA Fighter.
Ay you.
Ask me a question… pic.twitter.com/RPEOfY27HR— Alpha Cat Zingano (@CatZingano) March 11, 2021
Cat Zingano – Interesting Facts
- Zingano is the first mother to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
- Cat is the first woman ever to win UFC by technical knockout.
- Zingano has won 4 times all American and National championships.
- Cat already has a professional career of more than 10 years; for instance, she has played 15 matches. Out of 15, she has won 11 of them.
FAQs about Cat Zingano
What happened at Cat Zingano v. Olivia Parker?
Cat Zingano stood up as the winner in her bout against Olivia Parker. She brought the fight to the ground in less than a minute, then moved to the half guard.
What are the results of Cat Zingano’s fights?
In her seven professional fights, Cat Zingano won three, lost three, and lost one more by submission.
