Submission Loss Overturned, Tonya Evinger Regains Invicta FC Belt | MMAWeekly.com

In the Invicta FC 20 main event on Nov. 18 in Kansas City, Yana Kunitskaya locked an armbar on bantamweight champion Tonya Evinger. Evinger worked to free her arm from the submission attempt by placing her foot on Kunitskaya’s face for leverage. She was warned by the referee to not do that and seconds later she was verbally submitting to the armbar.

But there was a problem with that scenario. Placing your foot on an opponent’s face is not illegal.

Following the loss, Evinger filed an appeal with the Missouri Office of Athletics. On Thursday, the athletic commission ruled in Evinger’s favor, overturning the loss. The result was ruled a no contest due to the referee’s actions and Evinger will retain the title of Invicta FC bantamweight champion.

Evinger first broke the news via Twitter.

pic.twitter.com/6GkJ0y11cz

— tonya evinger (@tonyaevinger) December 1, 2016

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In a statement released by the promotion following the athletic commission ruling, Invicta FC president Shannon Knapp added that the promotion is “working on scheduling a potential rematch” of the bantamweight championship bout between Evinger and Kunitskaya as soon as possible.

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