Congrats, Miesha Tate?

Part of the fun of the UFC’s new women’s division was that, aside from praying that someone would ever stand a chance against Ronda Rousey, the new female fighters were all hungry to prove that they belong. That’s why most UFC fans were pleasantly surprised when Cat Zingano’s win over Miesha Tate at the Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale was not only intense and entertaining, but possibly the best fight that we watched that night.

And for her efforts, Zingano was named the No. 1 contender to Rousey’s UFC Women’s Championship and, therefore, she was declared the second coach on the next season of TUF, which will be the first to feature female fighters. In all, this has been everything that Dana White and the UFC could have asked for in building momentum to a women’s division that the sport’s predominantly male fans who might not take it seriously.

So of course it had to hit a snag.

Zingano suffered a significant knee injury earlier this month and underwent surgery yesterday, which means that she couldn’t have been ready for the start of the TUF taping, which also began yesterday. By default, Tate has taken over as Rousey’s opposing coach on TUF, which isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world or the figurative boulder that falls on the women’s division, but it’s still not what we wanted to see.

Hopefully, Zingano has a quick, flawless recovery and is ready to resume training for her eventual loss to Rousey.

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