A recent combat sports event in Poland which featured two 'teams' fighting each other simultaneously inside the cage has been slammed by fans after one competitor was repeatedly punched on the ground while he was unconscious.
One only has to look towards Saturday's forthcoming Triad Combat fight card to see that fight promoters are constantly looking for new and inventive ways to draw an audience by adapting the generally-recognized MMA rules and turning them on their head.
The latest such example of this came recently from an event in Poland called 'The War 3' – and judging by the clips which have filtered out online, the chaos in the cage very much lived up to its billing.
MMA is by most people's judgement a one-on-one sport, but what would happen if it became a team sport? This was a question which was very haphazardly answered in Poland – and the results were exactly as violent as you might have expected.
As you can see from the above clip, the fight starts in a five-on-five situation with three referees overseeing the brawl. It becomes clear, however, that more in-cage officials were likely required when all hell breaks loose.
One fighter around the 17-second mark gets knocked unconscious – and his aggressive opponent stands over him to deliver a sickening barrage of undefended strikes before a referee notices and sprints across the cage to put an end to it as the television director cuts away to cheering fans in the audience.
Further clips from the event also appears to show a female fighter having collapsed in between rounds of a separate fight – with her opponent celebrating as she is removed from the cage on a stretcher.
The event, which also featured a range of other fights – including a two-on-two matchup – was the subject of extreme criticism from fans online for the apparently barbaric nature of the show, as well as what many see as a lack of care for its combatants.
"Sick. Shouldn't be happening!" reacted one fan to the disturbing footage to which combat sports Twitter personality Caposa, who initially posted the footage, underscored.
"If they're not going to protect unconscious fighters, I agree. The referees are a liability in this promotion. I've seen way too many mistakes," he wrote.
"That was legitimately disturbing," agreed a third.
Of course, as long as fighters are willing to compete in such bizarre circumstances, you will always find a promoter willing to pay them to do it.
A similar event in the Philippines in 2019 caused similar storm online and as long as such curiosities can draw a quick buck, they will continue – at least until someone gets seriously hurt.