MMA Warlike: Ladies Who Kick Ass: An Interview with Cat "Alpha" Zingano

"Interview by The Midge at Gals Guide To MMA"

Cat Zingano is a lady that kicks ass!

So let's kick off things off with getting to know everyone's soon to be favorite fighter! Complete interview is below the jump...

For those who aren’t acquainted with you, tell us a little about your Mixed Martial Arts career and what you’ve accomplished thus far.

So far in Mixed Martial Arts, I have accomplished much more then just a winning record of 5-0, ive learned and adapted a style of movement that contributes to my career as a no-gi Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitor, also the multiple weapons ive acquired from Muay Thai, as I would love to eventually make my way over to the professional Muay Thai stream as well. Because of the individual attention I give to these singular martial arts, i find that my lifetime of wrestling supplements the transitions enough that I feel comfortable in the fight, no matter where it goes, mostly confident that my coaches have me ready for any opponent Ill ever see across from me.

You’ve also had an impressive run in the grappling circuit. Can you tell us a little about your competitive grappling history?

I’ve started with youth wrestling in middle school and competed throughout high school and college. As far a BJJ and grappling goes I entered my first grappling tournament after 3 weeks of training BJJ and I try to compete in BJJ or grappling in between fights as much as possible.

You’ve been wrestling for a long time right? Can you tell us a little about that?

I started wrestling when I was 12 years old. I fell in love with the sport the first time I saw a dual meet. The idea of two people physically trying their best and working against someone else’s best was always the most impressive form of competition to me.

When and where did you start training BJJ? What belt are you currently?

I started BJJ in March of 2007 at Zingano Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in Broomfield CO. One of my past wrestling coaches, Connor Heun, was in town getting ready for a MMA fight training with Mauricio Zingano and I stopped by the gym to say hello, long story short I tried a class and began training a few days later.Currently I’m a purple belt in BJJ

That’s not a lot of time the sport to have such high accolades. Why do you think you’ve been able to accomplish so much so quickly on the grappling scene?

Number one I have the best coaches around helping me achieve my goals, secondly I don’t really worry much about winning or losing, to me its all competition and I enjoy competition, so I don’t really have any pressure to do well and I think that helps me perform well. For example I decided to do the ADCC trials in less then 10 days prior to the tournament without doing any kind of specific preparation for it, just for fun.

What about your stand-up game? We saw you land some vicious punches to Carina Damm before taking it to the ground in your last match. Where have you been training, and for how long?

I’ve been training Muay Thai since late 2007. I have a couple of coaches, Oscar Martinez and Sakmongkol. Oscar Martinez got me started and taught me so much about the intricacies and art of motion required to become a rounded and successful Muay Thai practitioner. I continue to work with him at his gym, Muay Thai of Colorado. I am also coached by the legendary Sakmongkol, a five time Muay Thai world champion from Thailand.

Together, my coaches have supplemented and personalized everything I have to my style, my hands game, and on the ground. I admit, and I enjoy, that showcasing how bad ass they are as teachers during competition is a huge perk of the battle. I came to them with not much to work with, and they gave me the tools and confidence to think I can go toe to toe with,(literally), any one. Throughout Sakmongkol being at our school and in my corner, he has pioneered outstanding Muay Thai program and style. Raising serious fighters and dedicating himself 100% towards any student’s personal success. I first worked with Sakmongkol on a training/vacation trip with my husband to Thailand. After a couple of enlightening visits back to work with the champion, the click was too irresistible to pass up and Mauricio brought him to America as he began coaching our fighters and students in our Broomfield and Brighton gyms.

If you were a blade of grass, where would you be?

Hopefully not at either end of a herbivore or lawn mower. Id like to be stuck to Mauricios shoe.

You’ve been known as more of a ground fighter with slick transitions and some of the most powerful ground and pound in women’s MMA. Is this where you feel more comfortable in the cage? Do you see this as where you are most dangerous in a fight?

I’m comfortable anywhere really, I enjoy striking as much as do I do wrestling or grappling off my back. Fights just sort of end up wherever and I just go with the flow. I never plan for where a fight is going to go, that just makes room for surprises and takes away from my reaction time, so I just try to keep my hands up and go with my instincts, and listen to my corner ;)

You just won the ADCC Trials in San Diego recently, along with your husband Mauricio Zingano. Tell us about the experience.

It was great, it was a last minute decision to enter it and I was about 13 pounds over the weight class with 10 days to go so I had some work ahead of me.

I really enjoyed the tournament, was a great experience and it was a really relaxed and fun atmosphere in there. My husband and coach, Mauricio Zingano said to me to just go out and have fun. Since the tournament was just for luxury, he (and I) encouraged him to sit down and enjoy watching the matches, not really coaching; no stressing; just watching his hard work and coaching unfold before his eyes as a spectator. He knew of my opponents, but I never want to know anything. It feels great for him to trust me to go out there and represent, especially when I get a big smile and a kiss as I walk off the mat. Secretly, I love impressing him more then anything. At the end of the day, this is a huge way for me and my husband to bond, and I love sharing the success we create and weather he is saying anything from the sidelines or not, I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without him there.

I’m looking forward to England in September and seeing what I can do! I’m super motivated and we are working on Zingano Jiu Jitsu magic for the trip already. I can’t wait!!

Ps: I’m looking for sponsors for the trip.

How did the weight cut go? You don’t get the recovery time that you do in MMA right?

One of the black belts at our gym, Josh Ford (FORgeD FUEL), does nutrition diets for fighters and weight cut diets as well so I gave him a call and he told me what to do to get the weight off. I took most of the weight off with his diet leading up to the tournament and finished of in the sauna right before going to the event.

I had about 10 minutes to recover between weight ins and my first match and I used a re hydration drink that Josh prepared for me to recuperate as much as possible. I felt optimal throughout my matches. The best I’ve felt walking on to the mat in that short amount of time, for sure! If only id known this stuff years ago….

What does your weight look like walking around? What about leading up to a fight.

I’m usually walk around much heavier than I fight but I try to stay as fit as possible.

My diet changes a little bit about 6 weeks out but I tend to keep most of my weight on until a few days to a week before. It’s a science to me, and all part of my mental preparation for battle.

What is the coolest thing since sliced bread?

Flip flops

If you could geneticallyengineer two animals, what would they be, why, and what would you call this blasphemous little creature?

I would create a creature that could be perfectly trained to track, hunt, kill, protect all while being undetected and had the same loyalties and affections as good dogs. Id engeneer them to be more self sufficient and needing minimal human maintenance for survival while caring for itself and it's young efficiently on it's own. It would not shed, drool or have any sticky awkward parts that need licking for hours and it would know to wipe it's feet when coming inside a clean house. It would not wake everyone in the house in the middle of the night because it would be out hunting for food, not just dreaming, barking and howling randomly throughout the night(scaring the shit out of everyone). It would not slide its ass across the floor, try to trip you when you are carrying food, or leave steamy puke on the cold tile of a dark bathroom, first thing in the morning. This is called a Chupa Cabra domesticado

What are your thoughts on the current Women’s MMA scene? What are you thoughts on how promotions with Women’s MMA are currently promoting their divisions?

I really don’t pay much attention to what the other girls are doing, rankings or things like that; I just show up and compete. I think more and more shows are having women in their cards and that’s great for us! I really don’t get why most shows are focusing on 135’s and 115’s but not 125’s.

I like the format Bellator has for their tournaments ad would LOVE if they had a 125lb tournament.via brawlin.net

If you could fight one person, who would it be? Why?

I’m not sure how to answer that, lol. Well, I never aware of who I’m fighting next, my coaches train me and tell me when and where, that’s about it.

I really look up to Cyborg, I think she is a great competitor and I would like to one day compete against her or even just train with her. We are two weight classes apart, but I’m sure if the opportunity was right it would be something my manager and coaches would be on board with for sure!!

At 125lb there are some great fighters out there, Zolia, Rosi Sexton and Megumi.

I don’t call people out or anything like that, I think the tough girls know who they are and I’m sure we will meet sooner or later and compete against each other. All these girls have proven themselves and are down to fight so I guess we just leave it up to promoters and managers to make it happen.

I admire all of these girls and would be honored to fight them some day.

Carinna Damm is a fighter that I looked up to for a while and it was very exiting to be able to compete with her.

Tom, or Jerry?

Tom- hes always trying.

125 lbs is your ideal weight class. Thus far, nobody has really created the definitive 125 division (Bellator nabbed 115, Strikeforce nabbed 135/145). Rumor has it that Shark Fights is looking to acquire the world’s top talent at 125. Rumor has it that they have been in contact with your management, and that they are looking to match you up for a #1 contenders match to set up a title fight with Tara LaRosa. Is there any merit to these rumors?

I didn’t know about that until I was at the ADCC trials and an old friend from wresting told me about that, it was news to me then. My husband was right there and started laughing and said "she didn’t know until now", so I guess yes, my manager Ricky Vasquez and my coaches know all about it, I just stay out of it. Like I said, I want to be number one, show me how to get there and Ill walk the path.

What’s next for you in the MMA scene? Who and when are you fighting next? Have you been contacted by any of the bigger promotions?

I’m fighting at the next Fight to Win event here in Denver on May 14^th, and I’m not sure after that. September I have the ADCC tournament but I’m sure I’ll have another fight at least between May and September.

As for big promotions I’m not sure, I know about the Shark Fights now so I guess it’s just waiting and see.

Do you think there should be "Ring Boys" when women are fighting? Or does the standard ring girl work for you?

That would be horrible. I like the pretty ladies. However, Mauricio is pretty smokin’ hot, I can definitely see it being motivating watching him walk around in between rounds with a tasty beer and some chocolate cake;)

Tell us a little bit about your daily life being a full time wife, full time mother, and full time fighter. That sounds like a full schedule!

Sometimes I feel like MMA’s craziest female fighter, hilarity ensued. But seriously. I try to keep humor in my day to day because it is a way to keep myself and others surrounding me, smiling and positive. I am very infrequently around women, and even more infrequently around non fighters. Balance in my life is very important and it is a ever changing and unique battle all in itself to keep up with the pace of all my duties in all of those areas. It is a very full schedule but it works. It’s the usual life of any other mother and wife with the added training, thankfully enough we have things down to a good schedule where I can coordinate all the roles and make everything work. Its long days but I can’t complain, I have a great support system with my husband and team mates and a very patient little boy.

If you had a super power (Besides being Cat Zingano, of course) what would it be?

I would want to be the ultimate handy(woman). I wish I knew how to do, make, run, prepare, fix, clean, everything so I didn’t always have to learn from mistakes, or pay someone to do things for me. My superpower would be endless knowledge of useful stuff;).

I’ve heard you are managed by Grudge. How has that been going for you?

Not Grudge, I’m managed by Ricky Vasquez, owner of DeBella Sports Management. They manage many of the Grudge fighters but I’m not managed by Grudge itself.

Ricky is a great manager; he really takes care of his fighters and has become a great friend of ours (Mauricio and I). He really does look to do well by his fighters and puts his heart and soul in to job and he treats his fighters as people with dreams and goals to achieve instead of looking at his fighters as just a source of income.

I’m grateful to have Ricky looking after me.

What has been the most difficult moment in your career thus far?

I went thru a rough year of health problems right about when I turned pro with the peak of it being against Angela Samaro when we fought for the Ring of Fire 135lb title. My body pretty much was going crazy with hormone imbalances and getting that back on track was very difficult. I simply felt horrible all the time and it was very hard to train ad get motivated, I kept at it with the encouragement of my team mates and husband and I kept my goals in mind ad was able to push thru it and come out on top.

Doctor told me the years of cutting weight and o improper rest periods between competitions had caught up with me, so it took about a year of trying different things to get my body back on track and in the end I just stopped taking all the meds the doctors were putting me on and with a few weeks I was back to normal.

What has been the highlight of your career?

I think everything; every fight is a new goal, a new obstacle. I don’t look pass anyone and everyone presents a new challenge to me. I love the life, friends and opportunities I have come to know through MMA. I want more then a highlight… ill never be satisfied with just one, I want a lifetime of them. As for a fight that stands out I particular I ca think of two, Barb Honchack was my first fight back since my health problems and I was really looking forward to that fight ad to get back on track. Barb was super tough and after the fight we became good friends and training partners.

My last fight against Carinna was very memorable to me. I really admire Carinna and getting the opportunity to fight her was exhilarating and exiting to me. I was terrified of "The Carina Damm, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, BAD ASS, BAD ASS, BAD ASS", I proved a lot to myself that day just by trusting in my corners and believing in myself… and I still think she is BAD ASS.

In the event of the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse, what is your immediate plan of action?

LOL, I love that question! We do actually have a plan for all of that and many other end of the world scenarios, however I can not tell you the details, they are super secret and trust me, my husband, I, and a tactical group of very specialized and qualified people are well prepared for whatever comes our way….dead serious;)

If you could communicate with one animal (besides humans) what would it be? Why?

My dog Hawse ("Hoss") who is currently 8 y/o. I would have a lot of explaining to do.

In your opinion, who is the best color commentator in MMA?

Joe Rogan is pretty funny, my husband and I always go to his stand up comedy shows when he comes to Denver. Joe, gets us in the front seat next time your in townJ

My boy Hans Thompson is on his way up too, commentating for Dream, K-1 and Senguko. He is the info guy, but you’ll most commonly hear him correcting people, because he knows EVERYTHING about martial arts.