Cat Zingano was quick to open up on her UFC release.

Mixed martial arts enthusiasts were a bit surprised to catch wind of yesterday’s news, revealing that Zingano is no longer a member of the UFC roster. While Zingano has gone 1-4 in her last five outings, many believed she would stick around as the women’s bantamweight and women’s featherweight divisions are lacking top contenders in the UFC. It just wasn’t meant to continue at this time.

“Alpha” released the following statement to ESPN:

“I didn’t want to take the ultimatum this time,” Zingano said in her statement. “So I guess you can say it was mutual. I had a project that was very, very important to me, and to the MMA community and fans, and I needed to put me, my son, my training and that first before I had anything to give to the UFC. It’s s—ty timing, but it happens, and I’m still a fighter and ready to f— s— up.”

Zingano’s last bout under the UFC banner took place back in Dec. 2018. She took on Megan Anderson in a fight that barely made it past the one-minute mark. Anderson threw a head kick and her toe caught the eye of Zingano. “Alpha” immediately covered her face and turned her back. The fight was called and Anderson was awarded the TKO finish.

Zingano exits the UFC with a record of 3-4 under the promotion. She scored victories over Miesha Tate and current UFC “champ-champ” Amanda Nunes during her run. Stick with MMA News for the latest on Zingano’s next move post-UFC.