Cat Zingano doesn’t believe she showed her true potential the last time she was in the octagon.

How could she? The women’s bantamweight contender lasted just 14 seconds against former champion Ronda Rousey at UFC 184 on February 28, 2015.

Zingano (9-1) fought just twice since returning from a career-threatening knee injury in September 2014, but after falling short in the biggest moment of her mixed martial arts career, the 33-year-old needed more time away.

“That fight said nothing of my potential or what I’m capable of. It just is what it is,” Zingano told TSN.ca. “Sometimes I feel like a blessing in disguise that it didn’t go through the way I had hoped. Regardless of the outcome of that fight, I knew I wanted to take a break.”

“I’ve been just digging deep and grinding through stuff for the last couple years. It was time for me to kind of deal with life and rest and heal up my body, heal up my mind. Also be a parent I could be proud of and really just do the things necessary in order for me to be the athlete I want to be and am capable of, and be the parent, be the friend, be the person, and all those things I feel like were not in alignment.”

Zingano will be 16 months removed from the loss to Rousey when she returns to the octagon to face Julianna Pena at UFC 200 on July 9 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The UFC 200 prelims can be seen LIVE on TSN3 and TSN5 Saturday at 8pm et/5pm pt.

The Winona, Minn., native packed up and went to San Diego to train with coach Eric Del Fierro at Alliance for the bout. She moved her training from Elevation Fight Team in Colorado to reinvigorate her love for the sport and found exactly what she was looking for in California.

“I needed to make some necessary changes, which is why I came to San Diego. I’m training at Alliance because they encourage me and they motivate me and they try to build on my uniqueness as a fighter, as an athlete,” she said. “I really found that pump and excitement to go out there and get my hands on [Pena] and showcase skills and be wild and be myself. It’s really what I need, to be stoked, and right now I’m stoked and that’s a definite different energy coming out of me.”

The change of scenery was a major part of Zingano’s preparation for a tough opponent, but it was only half of the battle. To prepare for an elite kickboxer and Brazilian jiu-jitsu artist, Zingano had to hit the drawing board for a new game plan - well, any game plan really.

Admitting she had never done a whole lot of planning for the specifics of a fight, Zingano has opened up to the idea with the help of her new coach.

“Game planning has never really been my thing but I’m doing it and trying this out and I’m actually very excited for the stuff I’m going to implement in the fight,” she said. “My coach Eric Del Fierro out here at Alliance came at me with some ideas of ways to approach the fight and I liked it more and more and more. He didn’t give me too much, didn’t give me too little. It was just perfect.”

Her mind is clear, her body is fresh and she’s having fun again, but the new-look Zingano doesn’t have it easy for her comeback at the biggest event in UFC history.

Pena (7-2) won The Ultimate Fighter 18 in 2013 and is unbeaten in her three-fight UFC tenure, including two first-round knockouts. The 26-year-old has finished eight opponents in her nine professional victories with five knockouts and three submissions.

“She’s a tough girl,” Zingano said. “She’s worked her way up to this opportunity and I’m not taking her lightly.”