Cat Zingano Suffers Eye Injury, Falls to Megan Anderson via TKO at UFC 232

Megan Anderson earned her first career UFC victory with a TKO win over Cat Zingano at UFC 232 on Saturday night in Inglewood, California.

Just 61 seconds into the first round, the official stopped the match after Anderson (9-3) threw a high kick that appeared to glance off Zingano's face. The slow-motion replay showed Zingano (10-4) caught a toe directly in her right eye.

Moving the event to Southern California didn't do anything to help Zingano, whose previous fight in the area was one she would also like to forget:

Anderson, along with Cris Cyborg, are the only women currently signed to UFC who have vast experience fighting at 145 pounds. She joined the promotion as a potential challenger to Cyborg's featherweight title but lost to Holly Holm in her debut at UFC 225 in June.

Looking back at that defeat in August, Anderson told Ben Fowlkes and John Morgan of MMAjunkie that being relatively new to the sport taught her valuable lessons moving forward:

"Obviously, not the result that we wanted. But I'm a big believer, and my team is a big believer, that every opportunity is an opportunity to learn and develop. We definitely have a lot to work on, but I've only been in this sport for five years, and the fact that I've gotten to the point where I am in five years, I'm kind of excited for the next five."

Anderson, 28, came to UFC after holding the Invicta FC undisputed featherweight championship. She has a strong resume for someone who had just 11 fights under her belt prior to challenging Zingano.

Given the bizarre nature of the finish, it's plausible the UFC could attempt to schedule a rematch between the two fighters. Anderson didn't do anything wrong when the referee decided to stop the fight, but there was some confusion early on before it became apparent what happened.

Now that Anderson has gotten her first taste of victory in the UFC, the next step in her evolution will be securing a title shot at some point in 2019.