Imagine fighting in an MMA match… Only to have your nose broken by an enraged referee.
Well, that’s exactly what happened to Hubert Desmond Cole, a Jamaican MMA fighter.

Cole was competing in a recent Rough Fight League (RFL) event in St. Andrew, Jamaica, when he clinched up with his opponent.
The referee went in to break up the clinch – but was ultimately hit by Cole!

Why? Because Cole landed repeated shots to his opponent’s groin. And that backfired on the referee as he tried to break the clinch up.

Referee became furious with this shot and so he went after Cole. He hit the fighter with a series of shots, ultimately breaking his nose.

Following the incident, Cole was adamant that he didn’t hit the referee.
Here’s what he said for the Jamaica Observer:

Right now, my nose is broken. The nurse said it can heal by itself but I will have to put a bandage over it.
I have to take at least one month from the hard hitting of the punching bags and pads because the nose will break again.

I want this to be publicized. What I did was punch down the Rasta in the ring.
All of a sudden the referee turned down on me. I want someone to pay the price.

However, the CEO of RFL – Andrew Mullings – said that Cole did strike the referee.
But he also emphasized that this doesn’t excuse the referee for his actions:

One of the rules is that there should be no strike, whatsoever, to the groin of your opponent.

The referee went to separate them and it appeared as if Hubert Cole struck the fighter, and while striking the fighter, he struck the referee.

I think the referee lost self-control and did more than his fair share of separating the fighters and defending himself.