Megan Anderson Defends Bizarre TKO Win Over Cat Zingano At UFC 232

Megan Anderson picked up one of the most awkward TKO victories you’ll ever see this past weekend (Sat. December 29, 2018) at UFC 232.

Anderson picked up a first-round TKO win over former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Cat Zingano. After throwing a high kick that grazed Zingano’s eyelid, Zingano was unable to open her eye again. The referee didn’t stop the fight immediately. So after a few shots to the body, referee Marc Goddard stepped in to stop the action.

There has been a lot of ridiculous criticism towards Anderson on social media for accepting a win given the circumstances. Speaking to MMA Junkie after the fight, Anderson defended her TKO victory over Zingano:

“I’m just trying to do my job and Marc is there to – for both of us – to make sure that he puts our safety first,” Anderson said. “I can’t control what she does and I did my job and I finished my fight. And, yes, it is a little bit controversial, but you can punch people in the eye.

“You can knee them, all those kind of stuff.… I can’t let anybody else dictate how I feel about a win because, at the end of the day, I have put in the hard work. I guess it wasn’t the most, I guess, clean-cut finish, but it is what it is.”

She also said she’s more than willing to run it back with “Alpha” if she’d like:

“And we’re happy to give the fight back, we’re happy for that fight again if people feel like I need to prove that I’m one of the best in the world and this division. But, if not, let’s go to the next challenge.”

Former MMA referee and current Bellator MMA commentator, John McCarthy, offered an explanation for the whole situation. A fan on Twitter asked him why toes to the eye are treated different from finger pokes to the eye. He offered the following explanation:

“You punch with a closed fist. If you sustain an eye injury based upon a legal punch the eye injury could lead to you losing the fight via TKO. A fighter can not control toes in the same fashion they can fingers. That’s why we do not call toe pokes to the eye.”