The best and worst from UFC 232: Jones vs. Gustafsson 2

#2 Worst: The weird ending to the Zingano/Anderson fight

Cat Zingano's fight with Megan Anderson ended in controversy following an eye injury

The prelim match between Cat Zingano and Megan Anderson was one of my most highly anticipated fights on this card as I felt the winner could be in line to fight for the UFC Women’s Featherweight title in 2019. After a weird ending just a minute into the fight, that doesn’t really seem likely at all now. It was perhaps the worst ending to any fight in 2019.

After a brief feeling-out period, Anderson threw a high kick which largely missed, but one of her toes caught Zingano in her right eye. Cat instantly turned away and stopped fighting, and referee Marc Goddard had to step in to stop the fight.

There was no question that Zingano was unable to continue – she has since confirmed that she thought her eye was ruptured, although thankfully that apparently isn’t the case – but should it have been ruled as a TKO for Anderson?

Personally, I’m not sure. The current rules would say yes, which is why Anderson was given the win, but had the stoppage come from an errant finger poke, then the fight likely would’ve been ruled a No Contest. So should the use of a toe rather than a finger make it so different? I honestly don’t believe it should.

This wasn’t Anderson’s fault, the referee’s fault, the CSAC’s fault or the UFC’s fault, but it’s certainly something that needs looking at in the future. It was a very unfortunate way to end what looked like a great fight on paper.