Instead of celebrating her huge success in her first directional debut, she will be facing a lawsuit. The film had already premiered last year at the Toronto International Film Festival and is acquired by Netflix to be released later this year.
39-year-old seasoned MMA fighter Cat Zingano claimed that the parts where she had participated were all cut from the film. In the lawsuit, Zingano claimed that she was approached by Berry to star in the film in 2019, with her being the reference for the Bruised scripts and the life of a woman MMA fighter.
A week later, Zingano claimed that the UFC offered her to fight, which she rejected so she can star in the film. The UFC fight could have been a ladder to a huge success in Zingano’s career. However, she decided to allow her time and efforts for the film, which became a conflict for a title match.
UFC let her go after she accepted Berry’s offer. Zingano, who is now the management of the Bellator MMA, argued that she relied on being in the film instead of fighting for UFC. This means that she was torn between being able to advance her career for title contention and participate in a huge film with Halle Berry that tells Zingano’s own life story.
Two weeks after UFC released Zingano, Berry told the MMA fighter that only UFC players could participate in the film. She also cut her communication with Zingano. As of the moment, none of Berry’s representatives had responded to Zingano’s claim.