When brutal 10-second KO of 'soccer mom' Katie Castro prompted a state investigation into unsanctioned MMA fights
In 2015, a shocking video of an untrained lady getting knocked out cold by a female MMA fighter went viral. The KO occurred during an Xplode Fight Series event.
According to MMA Fighting, the video prompted an investigation into unsanctioned MMA fights by the California State Athletic Commission.
Watch the knockout below:
A throwback to Ilima-Lei Macfarlane vs Katie Castro in 2015 https://t.co/ecwi6nS3Db
The untrained woman, widely referred to as a 'soccer mom', is named Katie Castro. She was matched up against Ilima MacFarlane, who is currently competing in the women's flyweight division at Bellator. Within 10 seconds of the starting bell, MacFarlane brutally knocked out her opponent, who clearly looked like she didn't belong inside the cage.
The video instantly went viral, garnering over a million views on the YouTube page of XFS. Castro's appearance led to people criticizing the unsanctioned MMA promotion for letting an untrained woman step inside the cage with not only a trained fighter, but an elite one.
Owner of unsanctioned MMA promotion claimed Katie Castro is 'far from being a soccer mom'
Xplode owner Gregg Sharp refused to accept that Castro was a 'soccer mom'. He claimed she was a street fighter with a 0-3 record at the time. Sharp said Castro was a last-minute replacement for the fighter who was originally scheduled to fight MacFarlane.
He further accused publications of falsely using the term 'soccer mom' to refer to Castro.
"We're looked at under a microscope. If my promotion was going on in Idaho, no one would care. It's definitely true. The only reason this video made it to the surface is because somebody had a hard-on for me. That's it. The quality of the fight turned out to be poor and unfortunately we're in the position we're in now. If that fight ended in a rear-naked choke in 42 seconds, this wouldn't be the same case. Katie's not a great fighter, but she's a street fighter. She's far from a soccer mom. The reason why this has gone viral is because of that word. If they put 'Street fighter loses to MMA fighter,' this thing gets 12 hits on YouTube."
Katie Castro is her name, Ilima’s MMA debut, Katie would retire after this fight and having amassed an amazing record of 0-3 with all three losses being by ko inside the first 30 seconds twitter.com/MmaP4p/status/…
At the time, the CSAC was seriously considering sanctions against fighters competing in these unregulated and unsanctioned events. CSAC chairman John Carvelli also claimed the commission would investigate whether some promoters were committing criminal acts by allowing them to fight.
"We have a lot of authority over our licensees and if we feel like they're engaging in unsafe activities, we will look at that license very closely," Carvelli told MMA Fighting.