Cat Zingano May Be Facing Surgery On Her Other Knee

UFC Women’s Bantamweight contender Cat Zingano has faced quite a bit of adversity since securing a title shot with her third round TKO of Miesha Tate at the TUF 17 Finale this April. Tearing her right ACL during training, Zingano was forced out of a huge bout with champion Ronda Rousey. Her rehab has reportedly been going very well.

However, it’s apparently her other knee that is giving her problems. Yahoo! Sports reported that Zingano is facing another injury concerning her left knee, one that may require surgery and an extended recovery period. Her surgeon Dr. Kvitne detailed her situation:

“Cat is now three months out from her right knee anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. She’s three months out; her knee looks great. She’s got almost perfect motion, she’s got great strength, she’s got excellent stability. She’s about three months from getting back in the ring and starting to spar. The only problem is the left knee appears to have somewhere along the line gotten into trouble with a medial meniscus tear. So we’ll confirm that today with an MRI. If she does may have a torn meniscus, she’ll need surgery fairly quickly, so she can get back on track with the rehab. We think three months from now she’d be back in the ring training, sparring; so fighting in about four to six months from now.”

Another surgery could be a huge setback for Zingano, who’s already faced a good deal of adversity in the UFC, first in her come-from-behind win against Tate and then with her first surgery. Her initial injury opened the door for Tate to secure a spot opposite Rousey on TUF 18, and the show is gathering a ton of headlines.

Rousey and Tate will face off in the co-main event of UFC 168 on December 28 while Zingano heals up from her ailments. One of few positives that can be taken from the situation is that her doctor believes her left knee can be taken care of relatively quickly, leaving both of her knees on a similar time schedule to be prepared for an early 2014 return.

We’ll wait for more news concerning Zingano later today. Here’s to hoping she heals up effectively and gets back to fighting sooner than later, because there’s no doubt she deserves to stake her claim in the ever-improving UFC female arena.