Neither Cat Zingano nor Dominick Cruz are featured on the poster for UFC 178 this weekend in Las Vegas. Cruz isn’t even on the main card. Instead, he’s closing out the preliminary portion of the lineup opposite Japanese veteran Takeya Mizugaki, setting the table for Zingano, who faces Amanda Nunes immediately following the former bantamweight champion.
Despite the fact their respective bouts didn’t make it into the final three pairings of the night or onto the UFC Countdown promotional show for Saturday’s pay-per-view event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the returning fighters might be closer to challenging for championship gold than anyone else on the fight card.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch UFC 178 prelims Saturday on Sportsnet 360 starting at 8 p.m. EST
While you could argue that the winner of the lightweight co-main event between Donald Cerrone and Eddie Alvarez is worthy of a title shot, Rafael dos Anjos already holds a win over “Cowboy” and is coming off a first-round knockout win over Benson Henderson.
Conor McGregor is a star on the rise in every sense of the word, and both he and Dustin Poirier, whom he faces Saturday, are “in the mix” in the featherweight ranks, but they’re also behind the likes of Cub Swanson and Frankie Edgar as well.
But you could make a case for both Zingano and Cruz being the top contender in their respective divisions if they earn victories this weekend.
The unbeaten 32-year-old Zingano previously established herself as the No. 1 contender in the women’s bantamweight division with a thrilling come-from-behind finish of Miesha Tate in April 2013. The win pushed her record to 8-0 and put her in a position to coach opposite Ronda Rousey on The Ultimate Fighter 18 before challenging the Olympic judoka for the title.
Since then, the four-time All-American and national champion wrestler has endured two major knee surgeries and the tragic death of her husband, Mauricio. It has been just shy of 18 months since her win over Tate and a victory over Nunes is far from a certainty, but if “Alpha” does get her hand raised, you could certainly make a case for her becoming the No. 1 contender once again.
Rousey has quickly dispatched a quartet of challengers in the UFC and there is currently no one cemented as being next in line. Bethe Correia has made a solid case, but has yet to beat a Top 10 opponent and it’s still too soon to run back another fight with Tate. Zingano held the position once before and a convincing performance on Saturday might return her to the same place she was in prior to her stint on the sidelines.
As compelling as Zingano’s comeback story is, it pales in comparison to the odyssey that will finally come to an end when Cruz crosses the threshold of the Octagon this weekend. The last time Cruz entered the UFC cage was Oct. 1, 2010, when he earned a unanimous decision victory over Demetrious Johnson to retain his bantamweight title.
To put just how long it has been since he last fought into perspective, consider where Johnson’s career has gone since that fight. He moved down to the newly created flyweight division, fought Ian McCall twice, edged out Joseph Benavidez to become the inaugural 125-pound champion and successfully defended the belt on four occasions. He’ll be looking to make it five when he takes on Chris Cariaso in the main event of Saturday’s fight card.
In that time Johnson has become a dominant force in the flyweight division, while Cruz has undergone a pair of ligament replacement surgeries (on the same leg) and recovered from a serious groin injury that scuttled a title unification bout with Renan Barao at UFC 169. A lot has changed in the bantamweight division since “The Dominator” has been on the disabled list, but much like Zingano, there is a case to be made for Cruz earning a title shot with a win over Mizugaki at UFC 178.
First and foremost, he never actually lost the bantamweight title–an interim belt was created following his initial injury and he was stripped of his belt when he was forced to withdraw from the unification bout with Barao.
Secondly, a victory on Saturday would be his 11th consecutive win and third straight in the UFC. Despite his extended layoff, if Cruz can come back and halt Mizugaki’s five-fight winning streak with an impressive performance of his own, it would be difficult to argue that he’s not at least in the mix.
Lastly, a bout between Cruz and current champion T.J. Dillashaw is the biggest fight the UFC can make in the bantamweight division right now, save for maybe a “Student vs. Teacher” bout between Dillashaw and Urijah Faber.
Since that isn’t happening, pitting the former champion that never lost his belt with the impressive new titleholder is a more intriguing matchup than having Dillashaw face off with the winner of the upcoming bout between Rafael Assuncao and Bryan Caraway.
Of course, that’s thinking at least one step beyond the matter at hand, which is UFC 178 and challenging fights for both returning competitors. Regardless of how things go this weekend, it’s great to have Zingano and Cruz back in action.
But it would be even cooler if both emerged victorious and earn title shots on Saturday and that’s not out of the question.