While his MMA debut at Top FC’s event in March ended in disastrous first-round loss to Sung Tae Choi, Ji Young Kim bounced back by stopping Jun Woo Kim at the promotion’s next event. However, his celebration was cut short when the referee stepped in to stop the action.
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“An absolute disaster 🤦♂️,”read the post by Uncrowned. “This should be banned before oblique kicks.”
The post features 20 seconds of footage from the fight, which took place on the main card of the event promoted by the South Korean MMA company Top Fighting Championship, or Top FC, at Seoul’s Textile Center 3rd Floor Hall yesterday. Billed as Top FC 24: Breakthrough, it was headlined by Seung Jun Lee and Muratzhan Yusupov.
Both Young and Woo appear to be relatively inexperienced, with no prior history of involvement in controversies. Entering the fight with a 0-1 record, Young secured a second-round victory after landing a sharp left-hand body shot during a clinch near the cage. The strike forced Woo to cover up and left him unable to continue.
The referee promptly rushed in and stopped the fight. However, as he intervened, Young’s leg became trapped beneath the referee, leaving him writhing in severe pain, as the subsequent footage showed. Young immediately cried out, visibly distressed despite having just secured an important victory before his home crowd.
Founded in 2013 with strong ties to the Korean Top Team (KTT), Top FC has helped develop fighters who later pursued international opportunities. However, the promotion’s history has also been linked to reported disputes. Although the details remain unconfirmed, reports have pointed to tensions with KTT and a later contractual dispute involving fighter Kwak Kwan-ho.
Even so, this could be the first time in its history that Top FC is facing a situation where a fighter was injured during referee intervention. Given the official’s name was not publicly listed or specified in official records, it is difficult to determine whether he was involved in similar incidents in the past.
Referee-related injuries remain uncommon in MMA. However, there are examples that illustrate the physical risks officials face when intervening between fighters.
Caught in the crossfire: The risks MMA referees face
In sharp contrast to the Top FC fight, in which a fighter was injured after a referee intervened, an incident involved the official himself getting injured while a fight was underway. It took place at UFC 324 when veteran referee Mark Smith continued officiating a bout between Ateba Gautier and Andrey Pulyaev despite suffering a serious injury. Reports later clarified that he ruptured his Achilles tendon rather than tearing his ACL.
Another incident occurred during a 2018 PFL event, when Jason High attempted to knee referee Dan Miragliotta after regaining consciousness following a rear-naked choke submission by Natan Schulte. The strike did not connect cleanly, and Miragliotta appeared to take the situation in stride.
Returning to the Top FC incident, the footage of the Young-Woo sequence drew criticism of Uncrowned’s caption, with several users taking strong exception to its wording. Fans argued that the referee should not be punished for an injury that occurred while intervening between fighters.
Although most acknowledged the severity of the outcome, they viewed it as an unfortunate incident and questioned whether the incident exposed any genuine flaw in standard officiating procedures.