Ronda Rousey And Cat Zingano Fight Moved To Co-Headline UFC 184 In February 2015 With Vitor Belfort And Chris Weidman
Vitor Belfort spoiled the official announcement of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, and broke news through Twitter that he is set to face current middleweight champion Chris Weidman in the forthcoming UFC 184 at Los Angeles, California on Feb. 28, 2015. UFC President Dana White was playful with the unexpected announcent and even anointed Belfort as the outfit's new public relations point.
White did not stop there, as he made a surprise change to the matches, moving the Ronda Rousey and Cat Zingano starrer as the co-headliner of UFC 184. It has been rumoured for weeks that the said match would be one of the preliminary fights in the light heavyweight bout on Jan. 31 at UFC 182. The title match was supposed to be the fight preceding the Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier re-scheduled fight due to Jones' knee injury. Instead, the fight is moved back a month. Nevertheless, White is still ecstatic on the prospect of showcasing his biggest star yet again.
"Ronda is a special athlete, but Cat Zingano looked outstanding in her last fight ... she came in and put on an unbelievable performance and destroyed, reminding everyone why she's the No. 1 contender," White told Los Angeles Times.
Rousey will be putting her belt and undefeated record on the line in her home city of Los Angeles and at the world-renowned Staples Center in the co-main event of the evening against fellow UFC undefeated contender Cat Zingano. Zingano is coming off a long layoff after being sidelined with a knee injury, while Rousey has been impressive in her last 10 fights, with nine of them ending in the first round alone.
The other main fight of the night features American Chris Weidman staking his middleweight championship against Brazil's Belfort. Both fighters were originally slated to meet Dec. 6, but the schedule was pushed back after Weidman was diagnosed with a broken left hand. The women's bout was also set to be the apex of 2013 but was put on hold after the Zingano's knee injury. Now, the outfit is putting on a collision course two undefeated fighters that could be the biggest challenge to Rowdy's career.
This would be the second consecutive time both Rousey and Weidman appear in the co-headline event of the UFC. The said fighters were featured on July 5 when Weidman won over Lyoto Machida while Rousey prevailed in less than 20 seconds over Alexis Davis via her vaunted arm bar.