Video! Referee Has To Choke Fighter To Break Up Finish

It’s rare that a referee has to choke a fighter to stop a fight, but that’s exactly what happened earlier this week at WEF Selection 35.

The incident occurred at an event for Kyrgyzstan-based MMA promotion World Ertaymash Federation (WEF). In the main event, Doolotbek Narmatov and Saidburkhon Saidakbarova collided for the featherweight championship.

Narmatov, who was 2-0 coming into the main event fight, made quick work of Saidakbarova in the first round and locked in a tight guillotine choke. Narmatov dropped to the ground and cranked until Saidakbarova squirmed and eventually tapped.

That’s about the time a fighter typically lets go, especially if the referee rushes in for the stoppage. Unfortunately, Narmatov didn’t let go and continued to squeeze, forcing the referee to actually choke Narmatov before he released the submission.

It was pretty insane to see. Check out the video footage below:

This has Rousimar Palhares written all over it and Narmatov should have been disqualified for his actions, but that wasn’t the case. He was crowned featherweight champion and walked away with the title, while Saidakbarova was left to pick up the pieces.