Cat Zingano to meet Pam Sorenson at Bellator 276; Cris Cyborg says Zingano turned down title fight

Bellator’s plan was to have Cat Zingano challenge women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg for the title, but that’s not happening.

Zingano instead will face Pam Sorenson on March 12 at Bellator 276, which takes place at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., just outside of St. Louis. MMA Fighting first reported the booking, which a promotion official later confirmed to MMA Junkie on Tuesday.

Zingano, 39, has gone 2-0 so far since signing with Bellator in October 2019. After a unanimous decision win over Gabrielle Holloway in her promotional debut, Zingano submitted Olivia Parker by first-round armbar in April 2021.

The victory seemingly set up a title-fight showdown with Cyborg, who indicated on Twitter that Zingano declined the opportunity.

“She turned down a World Title Fight to compete on the prelims?!” Cyborg tweeted and later deleted (screenshot below).

It’s unclear if that’s exactly how things turned out, but Bellator president Scott Coker said on Jan. 29 that the promotion wanted to boon Cyborg vs. Zingano “as soon as possible.” He seemed to indicate that the hold-up was on Zingano’s end.

“I think timing is going to be an issue on that fight, when Cat is ready to fight her,” Coker said after Bellator 273. “We would like that fight to happen as soon as possible.”

“That is our plan, but we have to have both fighters agree to that plan. We’re talking to the managers, Cat’s manager, find out when she’ll be ready to, No. 1, fight, and will she be willing to fight Cyborg?”

That won’t be the case, and Zingano (11-4 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) will instead fight 35-year-old Soreno (9-4 MMA, 1-1 BMMA), who has split her first two Bellator outings. She won a split decision over Roberta Samad in August before she lost a unanimous decision to Arlene Blencowe this past November at Bellator 271.

While Zingano vs. Sorenson is scheduled for the prelims, a middleweight bout between Johnny Eblen (10-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) and John Salter (8-2 MMA, 18-5 BMMA) is the most recent addition to the main card. Eblen is considered one of the fastest-rising fighters in the division, while Salter looks to bounce back from a title shot loss against Gegard Mousasi.

Other additions to the card include a lightweight battle between Derek Anderson (17-4 MMA, 8-4 BMMA) and Goiti Yamauchi (26-5 MMA, 12-4 BMMA).

Notable prospects middleweight Romero Cotton (5-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA), women’s flyweight Diana Avsaragova (4-0 MMA, 2-0 BMMA), featherweight Cody Law (5-0 MMA, 5-0 BMMA), and welterweight Roman Faraldo (6-0 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) have also been matched up with non-rostered opponents.

The lineup for Bellator 276 currently includes:

MAIN CARD (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET)

• Adam Borics vs. Mads Burnell
• Phil Davis vs. Julius Anglickas
• Johnny Eblen vs. John Salter
• Jay Jay Wilson vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMA Junkie, 6 p.m. ET )

• Pam Sorenson vs. Cat Zingano
• Jose Augusto vs. Alex Polizzi
• Derek Anderson vs. Goiti Yamauchi
• Romero Cotton vs. Lance Wright
• Diana Avsaragova vs. Ashley Deen
• Cody Law vs. Johnny Soto
• Roman Faraldo vs. Kelvin Rayford
• Jordan Howard vs. Trevor Ward
• Dan Busch vs. Josh Augustine