A key women’s bantamweight fight between former title challenger Cat Zingano and perennial contender Marion Reneau kicked off tonight’s UFC Boise main card.
Cat Zingano (9-3 MMA) entered tonight’s contest on a three fight losing skid, while her opponent Marion Reneau (9-3-1 MMA) has won two straight.
Round one begins and Zingano lands a nice low kick to get things started. Reneau lands a stiff right jab and then another. Cat shoots in and lands a nice double leg takedown. Reneau is attempting roll for a choke but it is not there. Zingano postures up and allows Marion to get back to her feet. Reneau clinches up and pushes Cat against the cage. She lands an elbow followed by an uppercut. Zingano returns fire with a knee but Reneau quickly responds with an elbow. Zingano drops down for a takedown and Reneau opts to pull guard. She looks to lock in a submission but Cat escapes and gets back up to her feet. Reneau stands back up and eats a low kick. Another low kick from Zingano scores. Reneau leaps in with a right hand that just misses. Zingano circles and then comes forward with a leg kick. She lands another. Zingano misses with a front kick. Both ladies connect with left hands. Cat’s shot appeared to be the better in that exchange. Reneau rushes in and forces the clinch. Zingano scores another takedown before the horn sounds to end round one.
Round two begins and Cat Zingano is once again able to take the fight to the floor early on. This time she begins to get in some solid shots from the full guard position. Reneau is still searching for submissions. Zingano opts to stand back up and Marion follows suit. Zingano with a low kick and then another. Reneau lands a nice left hand. Zingano with another low kick. Reneau counters with a beautiful left hand. Cat shoots in for a takedown. She wraps her arms around Marion, picks her up and then slams her to the canvas. Zingano is working some short shots from full guard here. Reneau is bleeding now. The horn sounds to end round two.
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Round three begins and Reneau misses with an early combination attempt. Zingano pushes forward now and then shoots in for a takedown. She gets it! Zingano working from north-south position here. Reneau rolls but Zingano locks in a head lock. She transitions to the back of Marion but Reneau quickly scrambles and gets back to full guard. Zingano begins working in some short shots and elbow from the top position. She isn’t landing anything crazy but she is keeping busy and keeping the fight from being stood up by the referee. Left hands to the body from Zingano. Reneau needs to do something. Just seconds remain. Zingano with a final shot and the horn sounds to end round three.
She's ready to go.@CatZingano welcome back to the win column. #UFCBoise pic.twitter.com/KIL04lPFIl
— UFC (@ufc) July 15, 2018