A boxing referee turned into a human punching bag on Tuesday … getting hit in the face multiple times as he tried to break up the action — but surprisingly, he took it all like a champ!!
It happened at the RIZIN 49: Decade event in Saitama, Japan … where Rukiya Anpo — who was originally scheduled to fight Ryan Garcia — took on K-1 champ Sina Karimian in the bout.
The sixth and final round of the exhibition got intense when Karimian landed an illegal spinning back fist on Anpo … which sparked an all-out brawl between the two fighters.
When the official tried to separate the two pugilists, he found out it wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought … as he was rocked THREE times during the effort.
The referee accidentally gets punched clean in the face during a wild exchange between Rukiya Anpo and Sina Kari #RIZIN_DEACDE 😱 pic.twitter.com/YM5F3uye7A
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) December 31, 2024
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Even though Anpo and Karimian didn’t intentionally mean to hit the ref, security quickly jumped into the ring to calm the situation.
Thankfully, it appeared the ref was okay … and he’s now getting major props for being mostly unfazed by the stray shots.
No points were deducted from either fighter once the match resumed … and Anpo secured the victory by unanimous decision, but the ref?? He’s the real winner.
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