Cat Zingano vs Olivia Parker scheduled for April 9th at Bellator 256

Alpha Cat Zingano’s sophomore effort within Bellator MMA is lined up. Cat Zingano vs Olivia Parker is a featherweight fight that bolsters Bellator 256.

This prizefight for the promotion’s upcoming April 9th show was confirmed via MMA Junkie. This came after an initial report from ESPN.

Aligning with this being Zingano’s second Bellator bout, this will be Bellator MMA’s second card of 2021. Also, their second broadcast on Showtime.

Cat Zingano vs Olivia Parker

Cat Zingano is a former UFC bantamweight title contender. A win here could very well vault her towards a Bellator championship bid.

Earlier in the calendar year, Bellator MMA posted on their social media to gauge interest around the next challenge for reigning Bellator featherweight champion Cris Cyborg.

They highlighted three specific contenders in the form of Julia Budd, Sinead Kavanagh, and Leslie Smith. But curiously left a question mark on the fourth possible challenger.

Who should newly-crowned #Bellator women's world featherweight champ @CrisCyborg face next?#MMA pic.twitter.com/bm3gKWCdhp

— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) January 24, 2021

Pundits and fans alike understandably presumed the mystery fourth contender was Cat Zingano.

Cat Zingano’s last contest saw her go 1-0 under the Bellator banner. She garnered a unanimous decision win over Gabrielle Holloway at Bellator 245.

Zingano has scored several meaningful wins in her MMA career. This includes victories over names like Miesha Tate, Barb Honchak, Carina Damm, Raquel Pennington, and Amanda Nunes.

Olivia Parker has a 4-1 MMA record overall, is a promotional debutant here, and began her career on a multi-fight winning streak with VFC.

Parker had a four-fight win streak within Valor FC snapped when crossing over to Invicta FC. She lost her last MMA contest to Chelsea Chandler via a first-round rear-naked choke at Invicta FC 40.

Olivia Parker steps in there against by far the most experienced, high-level opponent of her career. The cumulative record of her prior five opponents is 5-10.

Who do you see emerging with the win when Cat Zingano vs Olivia Parker goes down?

Dylan Bowker

I've been enamored with combat sports for as long as I can remember. I've hosted MMA talk shows Lights Out and Pure Fight Radio with featured guests like Jens Pulver, Roy Nelson, Miesha Tate, Mark Coleman, and more. I've been an MMA broadcaster for XFFC as well as BTC and have done play by play commentary on live pay per view on GFL as well as FITE TV. I've provided written, audio, and video content covering some of the biggest MMA promotions like Rumble in the Cage, Unified MMA, and King of the Cage. I've worked as a sports entertainment personality for over five years and given play-by-play or featured promotions of KSW, ONE Championship, TKO, and Invicta FC. My work can be found in the USA Today Sports affiliate MMA Torch, Cageside Press, MMA Sucka, and Liberty Multimedia.

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