Cat Zingano has filed a lawsuit against Halle Berry claiming that she turned down a UFC fight as she relied on a promise that she would be in a film starring the Emmy Award winner. But, the role never materialized and she was cut by the UFC.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court claims that Zingano met Berry in July 2019 to discuss the prospects of a role for the female MMA star in an upcoming movie, “Bruised.” The movie is about an MMA fighter who is also a single mother and will be out on Netflix in November. Berry looked to Zingano due to the fact that her life was similar to the script of the story. In the lawsuit, it claims “Berry told Zingano that Zingano inspired Berry, and that Zingano had to be in the Film.” The lawsuit also claims that
According to court documents, due to the meeting and possibility of a role in the movie, she turned down a UFC fight in October 2019 which would have put her in title contention if she won.
Berry told Zingano that for “insurance reasons” the UFC fighter could not do both. Choosing the Film over the Fight, Zingano informed the UFC. She claims that she was “unceremoniously” released on August 14, 2019. She informed Berry and was told on August 28, 2019 that she could no longer work on the film as it could only work with UFC fighters.
Zingano sues Halle Berry by MMA Payout
Zingano is suing on the theory of Promissory Estoppel. The theory is based in contract law and refers to the doctrine that a party may recover damages on the basis of a promise made when the party’s reliance on that promise was reasonable and the party attempting to recovery detrimentally relied on the promise. Also known as detrimental reliance, Zingano argues that based on the representations that she would play a role in Berry’s movie she turned down a UFC fight and as a result lost out on the opportunity to fight in the UFC.
It should be noted that Zingano’s last fight in the UFC prior to her release was a TKO loss to Megan Anderson in December 2018. You might recall that Zingano was injured when she was hit in they eye and lost as a result. She had lost 4 out of her last 5 in the UFC after a win over Amanda Nunes in September 2014.
Since then, Zingano returned to MMA in Bellator in September 2020 with two straight wins in her first two fights with the promotion.
Payout Perspective:
Frankly, this will be a hard case for Zingano to win. Notably, one has to believe that the UFC release was independent of the claims here. Certainly, Berry’s film and production company likely were contracted to work with UFC fighters, but she (probably) did not know that Zingano was going to be released. Moreover, its unlikely that there will be evidence linking the release to Zingano turning down the October 2019 fight. One might expect a swift motion to dismiss here. MPO will continue to follow.
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