Cat Zingano ‘grateful’ despite UFC 222 loss, eyes return at UFC Chile

With almost a two-year layoff between fights, it was going to take a lot to spoil Cat Zingano’s return to action.

Yes, the one-time women’s bantamweight title challenger dropped a split decision to Ketlen Vieira at UFC 222. And yes, it was her third straight loss, leaving her winless since defeating future champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 178 over three years ago.

But given the setbacks that Zingano has faced outside of the cage, the 35-year-old fighter was focused on all the positive aspects of fight week regardless of how it ended.

“I had fun. I had a good time,” Zingano told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour on Monday. “From the weigh-ins, from the whole fight week, everything just kind of fell…