Friday’s Bellator 282 card brought with it a women’s featherweight fight that looked like a title eliminator in all but name.
The fight found former UFC contender Cat Zingano paired up with ex-Invicta FC champ Pam Sorenson, part of a stacked undercard in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Getting right to work, Zingano took the fight to the ground in the opening minute against Sorenson. She settled into guard, staying heavy; Sorenson would close her guard at times, but couldn’t halt Zingano’s progress to half guard. She couldn’t stop the damage from being done either, with a cut being opened up on Sorenson — but that cut was made that much worse when Zingano landed an illegal knee on Sorenson as she was crouched against the fence.
Sorenson was given time to recover, while Zingano saw a point deducted for the foul.
Restarted at center, it wasn’t long before Zingano got the fight to the ground again. She would work the body and head some more, riding out the remainder of the round on top, not letting up on the pressure.
Round two, rinse and repeat. Inside of a minute, Zingano had her opponent planted on her back. Sorenson trapped a leg to keep Zingano in half-guard, but she had no answer off her back: no escapes, and no submissions from bottom, resulting in another dominant round from Zingano. With no point deduction this time.
Zingano opened the third with a kick, then shot in for a takedown, only for Sorenson to retreat. Sorenson, in something of a moral victory, managed to stay on her feet for an entire minute in the third frame. Not long past that, however. Zingano landed a takedown just over a minute in, and again wound up in half guard.
Total dominance from @CatZingano.
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Sorenson would spend most of the round on bottom, eating strikes, but slowly made her way to the fence. Getting to a knee, she had to contend with Zingano threatening to take the back. Zingano then pulled Sorenson down into side control, and landed a couple of knees to the body. Point deduction or not, the winner was clear after fifteen minutes.
A worrying sign after the fight, however, Zingano appeared to have trouble standing and was nursing an injured knee.
Official Result: Cat Zingano def. Pam Sorenson by unanimous decision (29-26, 29-27, 29-27)
