Video: Referee blindly allows bout to continue with unconscious fighter, who then awakes and taps to horrific armbar

On the night before UFC San Antonio, the Texas city hosted Fury FC 76, an event that included a horrific scene due to a referee’s unbelievable incompetence.

In the main event, Edgar Chairez — who is a one-time competitor on the UFC’s Contender Series — took on Gianni Vasquez. In the fourth round, Chairez locked on a nasty triangle that visibly put Vasquez to sleep — a fact which was repeated multiple times on the broadcast by the commentators, including current UFC welterweight Alex Morono.

Referee Frank Collazo watched the hold for nearly 30 seconds, during which Vasquez was unconscious, only to allow the action to continue despite many people sitting cageside screaming to Collazo that Vasquez was out. Chairez then transitioned to an armbar, a move which actually woke Vasquez up and caused him to tap following the irresponsible scene.

Watch the video of the scary moment below.

MMA Fighting received a statement from TDLR spokesperson Tela Mange in response to the now-viral clip.

“TDLR is aware of concerns about the officiating in one of last night’s fights,” Mange told MMA Fighting on Saturday. “All TDLR officials receive ongoing training and we monitor each fight for consistency in officiating.

“Fight officials for each competition are always selected in conjunction with promoters.”

On Saturday, promotional officials released a statement on the Fury Fighting Championship Facebook page to react to the referee’s performance.

“It is the referee’s job to protect the fighter when the fighter cannot protect him or herself. In last night’s main event, the referee failed to do this,” the promotion stated. “While the job of a referee is one of the hardest to do in this sport, the need for proper and continued training would help to alleviate things like this incident.

“We do not hire, train, or select refs for our shows, but we would be more than willing to lead a revamp and overhaul of the reffing and judging selection and training process.”