(If you’re short on time, this image sums everything up pretty well.)
To say that Miesha Tate has been unhappy with the outcome of her Fight of the Night earning scrap against Cat Zingano during the TUF 17 Finale is putting things mildly. Despite controlling the first two rounds of the fight, Tate was eventually knocked out in the third round by Zingano. Tate immediately expressed that she felt that referee Kim Winslow stopped the fight early, but with Cat Zingano being sort-of busy for the time being, an immediate rematch has pretty much been out of the question.
That hasn’t exactly stopped Tate from trying. Yesterday, Tate posted a picture of herself in order to further demonstrate why she felt that the fight was stopped early, claiming that she wants a rematch against Zingano with a different referee overseeing the bout. Via Facebook:
“Post fight pic taken Monday, you all are wondering about my nose, its fine still a little swollen but im going to get the suspension lifted ASAP, and I will be back! Cant help my nose bleeds a lot still frustrated at the stoppage, think the ref freaked because of blood when she should have been focusing on the fact that I was still perfectly coherent and shooting for a takedown after two solid knees landed I was still in the fight and up on the score cards. Can’t pay enogh respect to Cat she’s a warrior & I’d love the honor of fighting her in the future again but NOT with Kim Winslow as the ref”
Believe it or not, Kim Winslow didn’t exactly take the implication that she sucks at her job lying down. Despite being unable to specifically comment on the fight, Winslow issued a statement to US Combat Sports explaining her rationale behind her decision to stop fights this week. Via USCS:
“I will tell you what I tell ALL my fighters in the prefight one on ones. If I say ‘fight back’ you are in imminent danger of me stopping your fight and you have to give me a reason not to. If you respond to the command and show that you can intelligently defend yourself I will let it continue whether or not your attempts are successful. It is on you to continue to try until you are out of danger or the round has ended. When you stop attempting to get out of the situation or just go back to what got you warned in the first place it’s your way of letting me know you have had enough and I am coming in to stop it. How much time I give you is always dependent on the amount of damage you are taking. Safety is the first priority and it’s my job to make sure you come back to fight another day if you choose to. ”
Whether or not Tate was “perfectly coherent” after eating those knees from Cat Zingano is debatable. Tate may claim she felt fine – and Kim Winslow certainly has a history of questionable stoppages – but it’s easy to see why this fight was stopped when it was. For what it’s worth, Dana White – who isn’t exactly shy about criticizing incompetent referees after questionable stoppages – thought that the stoppage was fair as well.
Was this fight yet another early stoppage on Kim Winslow’s resume, or did she make the right decision stopping the action when she did?