The executive officer of the California State Athletic Commission, Andy Foster, vindicated Megan Anderson’s victory over Cat Zingano in his statement this past Tuesday. The former secured a controversial win over Zingano at UFC 232’s pay-per-view event in Inglewood, California, on December 29th last year. A little over a minute into the very first round, an accidental toe poke to the eye by Anderson rendered Zingano unfit to continue in her matchup at UFC 232.
Moments after the incident, Megan Anderson was declared the winner, leaving many who were watching on, startled and confused. Team Zingano was quick to appeal against the technical knockout loss with the commission, but the California State Athletic body seemed to have an almost perfect response. Zingano’s team argued that the fight should be overturned to a ‘no contest’ decision, citing that a toe poke, just as a finger poke, must be considered as a foul. MMA veteran referee, Big John McCarty, weighed-in on the situation by saying the following on Twitter.
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 #AskBJM https://t.co/GVjEUXVEhd
— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) December 30, 2018
The California State Athletic Commission conducted a pole that scored a majority favorite with the case of Megan Anderson. The Commission further explained that toe fouls are considered to be independent of finger fouls as people find it difficult to establish the control they have over their closed fists, with toes. A rematch has been on the cards ever since Cat Zingano called the Australian out, leaving the scope for a big exhibition between the two fighters, up for the UFC’s grabs.
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