INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Megan Anderson hopes Cat Zingano is OK and will gladly extend a rematch if that’s what the UFC wants. But, as unusual as the end of their UFC 232 meeting was, Anderson stands by a simple fact.
“A win is a win,” Anderson told reporters, including MMAjunkie, backstage at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.
Anderson (9-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) met Zingano (10-4 MMA, 3-4 UFC) in the FS1-televised preliminary card. The official result of the clash was a TKO win for Anderson, as her injured foe wasn’t able to continue on. It was the nature of Zingano’s injury, however, that stood out.
As Anderson threw a head kick early in the first round, a toe grazed Zingano’s eye. Backstage, Anderson explained that she noticed that the strike had landed, though she couldn’t tell exactly where. She was ready to follow up with heavy strikes, but she noticed that Zingano had been hurt by the way in which she backed away.
Anderson also noticed ref Marc Goddard hovering, but he hadn’t stopped the fight at that point.
“I kind of backed off, as I didn’t know what (Goddard) was going to do,” Anderson said. “Because he started talking to Cat and, as I got closer, I could hear him saying ‘The fight is still on, keep going.’”
So that’s just what Anderson did. When Zingano didn’t fight back, though, Goddard intervened and stopped the bout at the 1:01 mark of the opening round. As a result, Anderson earned her first UFC win. Zingano, in turn, was unsuccessful in her 145-pound debut and would later get treated for an eyelid laceration.
Technically, Anderson didn’t throw anything illegal and therefore Goddard did nothing wrong in allowing the fight to continue. But the question that some, including Zingano, posed was: If an eye poke with a finger is considered an illegal strike, why should a toe be different?
People like long-time referee “Big” John McCarthy have stepped in to offer some explanations to that effect. (Via Twitter)
Anderson, on her end, was clear in that she has respect for Zingano and “I definitely hope she’s OK.” But she also stood by her win.
“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. 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.”
When Anderson spoke backstage, champs Cris Cyborg and Amanda Nunes had yet to face off in the night’s co-headliner to determine who’d leave with the 145-pound belt. That, we know, ended up being 135-pound titleholder Nunes – who’s now a two-division champ.
In a thin division, the meeting between former Invicta FC champ Anderson and former bantamweight title challenger Zingano could easily have been a title eliminator. After the way it ended, though, does Anderson expect that to be next?
“I really don’t give a (expletive),” Anderson said. “If they want me to fight Cat again and prove something, that’s fine. If they want me to fight somebody else, we’ll fight them. If they want me to fight the winner, we’ll fight them. I don’t really freaking care. Let’s sign featherweights, if you want me to fight somebody else. Let’s actually sign some featherweights.”
To hear from Anderson, check out the video above.
And for complete coverage of UFC 232, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
from MMAjunkie http://bit.ly/2GR68JB
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