After failing to win an appeal for her loss to Amy Montenegro at Invicta Fighting Championships 21, Celine Haga has decided to take the Missouri Athletic Commission (MAC) to court.
The Invicta FC veteran has filed a petition in the Cole County (Missouri) Circuit Court for a judicial review of the MAC’s decision not to overturn her loss. The main claim that Haga is making is that the MAC, by denying her appeal without being granted a hearing is a violation of her constitutional rights.
At Invicta FC 21, Haga and Montenegro battled for three rounds, but Haga choked Montenegro unconscious before the bell sounded. Plus, referee Greg Franklin didn’t notice that Montenegro was out cold until after the bell sounded, which means that he didn’t end the fight because a fighter couldn’t continue.
Haga initially appealed the decision this past January, but was denied by the MAC on January 26 because the MAC determined no rules were broken by the referee’s actions. Lucas Middlebrook, Haga’s attorney, filed a reconsideration of the appeal a week later and that was denied by the MAC as well.
Appeals have been overturned by the MAC before, as they overturned a Tonya Evinger loss to Yana Kunitskaya at Invicta FC 20 for referee incompetence. Haga has also hired Missouri legal counsel Bandre Hunt Snider, LLC. to represent her in this matter as well.
