Another cornerman had to jump the cage to save his unconscious fighter from an inept ref

Combat sports officials have been getting savaged in the press these days after a number of high profile flubs. But what about all the screw ups that don't get much exposure because they happen way down in the minor leagues in countries far far away? Check out this latest incident of referee malfeasance and wonder with me how fighters aren't dying all over the place.

The event: Capanema Fight Combat. The location: Brazil. Silmar “Sombra” Nunes catches Caio “Paturi” Robson Silva in a guillotine choke that puts Silva to sleep, but the referee doesn't seem to care. Even after lifting the fighter's limp arm, he still doesn't stop the fight. So Silva's corner does what corners apparently need to be prepared to do in this era of questionable reffing: he jumped into the cage and stopped the fight himself.

To be more accurate, he did more than that: he threw himself onto Nunes and starts punching at him, like it's somehow his fault that the referee is terrible. This prompts a scuffle with several other cornermen, but props to Nunes: he doesn't get involved. Instead, he checks on his unconscious opponent to see if he's okay.

This isn't the only time we've seen bizarre situations like this. In India, another coach jumped the cage to save his unconscious female fighter from an incompetent ref. And then there was the German fighter who took it upon himself to punch the referee in the face after his frantic tapouts were missed.

There's a lot of great refs and judges out there in MMA, but jeez do the bad ones ever stick out and make the sport look bad.