One of the most dangerous places to find yourself in the sporting world is in the center of an MMA cage or ring when the fists are flying. But MMA referees across the world put themselves in harm’s way to ensure they maintain the safety of the fighters during bouts. Sometimes they get caught with a stray punch here and there and, on rare occasions, they even get caught in a submission.
That’s exactly what happened to ONE Championship referee Olivier Coste during the preliminary card bout at “ONE Championship 106: A New Tomorrow” in Bangkok as he took charge of the featherweight bout between China’s [autotag]Ma Jia Wen[/autotag] and Mongolia’s [autotag]Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg[/autotag].
When Zoltsetseg connected with a huge right hook that sent Ma to the canvas, Coste moved in swiftly to check on the decked Chinese athlete, before waving off the contest after just 55 seconds. The bout may have been stopped, but Coste found himself in harm’s way as a discombobulated Ma instinctively went for a leg and attempted to lock up a heel hook on the official.
https://twitter.com/ONEChampionship/status/1215612251207544832
Thankfully, Coste was able to extricate himself from the hold as medics and officials entered the cage to tend to the still-rocked Ma and help Coste back to his feet. And the official appeared to be in good spirits as he returned to the center of the ring for the reading of the final verdict. The usually stoic Frenchman grinned broadly, presumably at the unintentional comedy of the fight’s conclusion. There was even a grin from a recovered, but perhaps slightly embarrassed, Ma, who gave Coste a quick hug before the trio left the ring.
And there appeared to be no lasting damage done as Coste returned to the ring to officiate the following bout, which didn’t offer the same submission threat to the official.
After all, it was a kickboxing match…
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