Top 66 Quotes & Sayings by Cat Zingano

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American athlete Cat Zingano.

Last updated on April 14, 2025.

Cathilee Deborah "Cat" Zingano is an American mixed martial artist, currently signed to Bellator MMA, competing in the Women's Featherweight division. Zingano also competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and on April 13, 2013, she became the first woman to win a UFC fight by technical knockout (TKO). At the time of her departure from the UFC, she was No. 7 in the official UFC bantamweight rankings. As of June 28, 2022, she is #4 in the Bellator Women's pound-for-pound Rankings and #1 in the Bellator Women's Featherweight Rankings.

American - Athlete | Born: July 1, 1982

Source: Wikipedia

To call myself a fighter is to be selfish at times. It makes me resent my opponent. That's motivation I can tap into.

Cat Zingano

Sometimes I look at my opponent, and I resent them because of the time I miss with my son by having to train for them, and that gives me even more strength.

Cat Zingano

I just put all my energy into me and focusing on what I'm going to do, and I'll go in there and do that right through the end of the fight until I get the job done.

Cat Zingano

There's moments where things are harder than others, and there are obviously questions, but when it comes down to it, there is no quit in me.

Cat Zingano

Women's MMA has come a really long way. People look forward to us fighting, and they get excited.

Cat Zingano

Being strong, showing that you will see things through no matter what comes your way, that's what matters most to me.

Cat Zingano

I took my son to Thailand and really immersed myself in the stuff I wanted to learn and I wanted to improve on, and when I got a taste of that motivation and that inspiration as far as what I wanted to see my body do, I immediately was excited about it.

Cat Zingano

I feel like every catastrophe in our lives, you remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, who you were with, almost down to what you were wearing.

Cat Zingano

I'm training at Alliance because they encourage me, and they motivate me, and they try to build on my uniqueness as a fighter, as an athlete.

Cat Zingano

Nothing can stay great forever, and nothing can stay horrible forever.

Cat Zingano

How I hurt my knee was doing something so minimal that it was a little worrisome. To try that motion and others again, after the injury and after surgery, made you worry a bit.

Cat Zingano

When I think about protecting my son and fighting for him, that's a big threat in a fight. If I can go there, it makes me unstoppable.

Cat Zingano

My first fight was incredible; it was surreal. I almost forgot I had to fight, I was so overcome with emotion. It was just an amazing experience.

Cat Zingano

My son is a huge inspiration for me.

Cat Zingano

I was satisfied with having a couple of fights a year, to enjoy them and have them be part of my training routine. When the UFC came around, it seemed like it fell in my lap. It was like I got so good at my hobby, and now I'm living all these people's dreams who had been working for so many years.

Cat Zingano

I think the match up is one of the century and I have what it takes to take Cyborg down, if anyone does.

Cat Zingano

With a lot of things in life, it's hard to do the right thing.

Cat Zingano

I walked into the gym not even knowing what jiu-jitsu or MMA and all that was. I was looking to lose baby weight after I had my son.

Cat Zingano

I love fighting... It's something I think I was born to do.

Cat Zingano

You can have a fight card full of male fights, but yet when that women's fight comes on, that's what people watch. They're super excited by it.

Cat Zingano

You can sit there and punch me in the head for three minutes straight, but I'm gonna figure it out. I always do. I just know that about myself.

Cat Zingano

Sometimes, we find what we want by also finding out what you don't want. All of that is trial and error. Once you're in that pit, the trial and error is important. It's up to us; we've got to keep moving forward.

Cat Zingano

In my eyes, of course, I think I'm the best in the world.

Cat Zingano

I'm always shocked when people feel threatened by me.

Cat Zingano

When things are right and things are focused, it's a game to me, and I'm there just stalking and punching and grabbing and tearing people up.

Cat Zingano

When I stuff things down and avoid it or try to work too hard through something that needs to be addressed, that's when life slaps me in the face, and I get told. I got told to slow down.

Cat Zingano

With Cyborg, this is a winnable fight for me.

Cat Zingano

I want everything that's possible that I've worked for to show up in my life and be mine.

Cat Zingano

Nothing always stays the same. You don't stay happy forever. You don't stay sad forever.

Cat Zingano

I don't care who I'm fighting if I'm not fighting for the title.

Cat Zingano

Life is constantly changing.

Cat Zingano

The first thing I usually do after a fight is apologize to my coaches because I didn't do one damn thing they told me to do.

Cat Zingano

Going into a fight with Cyborg, you need to be as on point as possible.

Cat Zingano

Wrestling was the hardest thing I've ever done.

Cat Zingano

I already knew a lot about the ground aspects of MMA, being a wrestler, but there was so much more. There was kicking, punching, and other things I wish I could have done as a wrestler. It really stoked my interest.

Cat Zingano

When I fight, I don't think about being tired, I don't think about technique. I just try to break their will.

Cat Zingano

When life is going to present you with tons of problems - really hard ones, some less hard, some debilitating - it's what you do about them that matters.

Cat Zingano

I took a trip to Thailand. I visited a bunch of different gyms that are places where I always wanted to train, and get technique and education from people who I really look up to.

Cat Zingano

I have a lot of plaques; I have a lot of accolades - things that I'm proud of - but I don't think I ever reached my full potential as a wrestler.

Cat Zingano

When I'm feeling comfortable at home, confident in my day-to-day, being healthy and being the best person I can be, MMA is easy.

Cat Zingano

I have heart, and you can't break heart.

Cat Zingano

I was very much a student of the sport. I wanted to know everything, all the moves. It was the coolest thing I had seen. I started winning matches. Dads didn't want their sons to face a girl. Coaches didn't want to put any of their wrestlers up against me to be beaten by a girl.

Cat Zingano

Usually, I spar with dudes. When I spar with girls, I worry about how they're feeling, what they're thinking. I care.

Cat Zingano

I'm an emotional fighter.

Cat Zingano

Half the reason I fight the way I fight is because of where I get my mind, and I'm very protective of the things that matter to me.

Cat Zingano

I've done what I could as far as getting physically healthy after my knee injury, and I've done what I could to get mentally healthy after losing my husband.

Cat Zingano

I'm a person that, when I'm in the right mood, not any one of these girls can touch me.

Cat Zingano

I need to show my son that when things get hard and rough - not if, when - you have to keep going; you have to move forward.

Cat Zingano

I can't get to the point where my brain is mush and I can barely talk, because my son's life depends on my health.

Cat Zingano

Nothing in my life has ever come easy.

Cat Zingano

I would love to fight Ronda for the belt. I would love to avenge my loss and fight her again for what that means to me. I don't know what it means to her, but to me, that's what it would look like for me in perfect world.

Cat Zingano

Life is tough, but I'm tougher.

Cat Zingano

I never stopped training. You know, I stopped fighting. When I was injured, when I lost my husband, I stopped when I needed to take the break. But I never stopped training because training is my therapy.

Cat Zingano

The thing to me about this sport, all the fans, everyone that watches, everyone that has a career has had a bad day at work. If you have a project, you have a quota that you have to meet, you can screw up at it. At the end of the day, you get to go home to your family; you can bring your work home with you or not.

Cat Zingano

Everybody had a bad day. It's possible to have two bad days in a row. And in this sport, it's so unforgiving.

Cat Zingano

I think everyone has the desire in their life to be the best at something that touches them, that reaches them.

Cat Zingano

My desire to fight comes from within... it's a personal journey of accomplishment, not meant to be judges or for me to judge others.

Cat Zingano

Hang onto that goal and you do what you have to do to make it happen.

Cat Zingano

Am I nervous? Yeah. Am I scared? Sure. But I do this because I love it.

Cat Zingano

Life is going to present you with tons of problems, it's what you do about them that matters.