EXCLUSIVE | After possible early stoppage, Angela Magana challenges sexism in MMA

Last weekend, on the undercard of UFC 218, Angela Magana came up short against Amanda Bobby Cooper, succumbing to second-round punches. Unfortunately, Magana feels as though the fight might have been stopped a little early by referee Keith Peterson.

“I feel like the fight was stopped early,” Magana explained on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “I remember my corner saying 28 seconds, and there were less than 30 seconds. Yes, [Cooper] was bashing the shit out of me, but I was fully with it. I was fully aware of what was going on. As soon as it stopped I was over with the referee just seeing the replay. I put my hands out like what the hell? But that’s his decision. You have to respect his decisions. I felt like if I could have got a third round, and my corner said, ‘whatever you do, don’t go to the ground, stand up [with her].’ I might have pulled something out of somewhere, I don’t know, to be able to win it. Who knows, but it was stopped a bit early. I feel like that’s the thing with women’s MMA. That they always stop us early in comparison to the men.”

“I understand [the referee is] doing his job, and he’s doing what’s in my best interest, but I feel like, he knew there was only 30 seconds left,” Magana continued. “I feel like I could have waited it out. I’m sitting here fine today, totally with it. Nothing wrong with me, black eye, some swelling in my cheek. I was never even bloody. No blood, there was not even a hit hard enough to make me bleed, so why didn’t he let the fight go on?”

“The thing that I noticed with the WME IMG taking over, I thought they started letting these fights go more than they used to. I thought that was something maybe that they did to push these guys to be aggressive. But it’s always been the same thing with the women’s fights. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, next time, do I need to put a banana in my fucking shorts, and get a crew cut, so they think I’m a fucking dude and let the fight go?”

What do you think of these comments from Angela Magana?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/12/2017.