Cat Zingano Thinks She’ll Be Called As A Replacement If Something Happens To Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Cat Zingano is sure that she’ll be called up as a replacement if something happens to the planned fight between Cris Cyborg and Amanda Nunes at UFC 232. She’s currently set to fight Megan Anderson on the card. Here are highlights:

On how she thinks she got the fight with Anderson: “I believe it was Cris who was out there saying that she wanted to petition for there to be an alternate training to get ready, because she was worried Amanda was going to pull out. And I’m sitting there — I get it. I don’t know how many times Amanda has been pulled out or has pulled herself out, but enough for it to be a concern, and so it’s like, ‘Well, there is a likeliness there, and maybe that’s what’s up. I’ll join in, see what ends up happening, get ready for it.’ I’ve wanted to be in camp. I’ve been feeling antsy. I’ve been feeling stationary right now and it’s been kinda hard. I had goals of wanting to get a third fight within the year, and that’s really what was open. I wasn’t sure that it was going to happen, I was hoping it was going to happen, but this is what’s next and I’m just excited to have something on the calendar right now. I’ve been feeling on fire. I’ve been feeling excited to get my hands on people again. I’ve been good, everything’s been right lately, so I just want to keep that momentum.”

On why she thinks she’d be a replacement for Nunes: “That’s how it originally started, so I’m gonna assume [that’s how things still stand], and yeah, it’s clear. And the way Cyborg was trying to say that it would be tournament-style — so maybe me and Megan would be the No. 1 contender fight, they’re the title fight, so our winner fights their winner is kinda the vibe that I’m getting. But I guess we’ll see. We’ll see what happens. Results talk.”

On going to featherweight: “I’m a really big 135er. I cut down from 160. I have an incredible plan set in place for that; something that, I’ve been cutting weight since I was 12 years old. My body is not too happy with doing it, but it gets the job done. So to be able to cut and stop at 145 versus stop at 135, that’s amazing to me. I still have plans and designs in the 135 division, because at this point it’s about girls my size, so that would girls at 135 and girls at 145. Ultimately, the goal would be to have the strap in both divisions. But yeah, going up [to featherweight], I get to lift differently, I get to lift way heavier, work on different dynamic and explosive movements that might’ve put on size or weight [before]. Those are all things I get to implement and use now that I get to use that extra 10 pounds, so it’s going to be fun. I’m watching myself with my coaches just be excited, having me do other things. It’s exciting, I think. I look forward to it a lot.”