This past Saturday night (June 2, 2018) in Maranhao, Brazil the Imortal FC 9 mixed martial arts (MMA) event went down in front of a rowdy crowd.

One of the highlights of the night, however, was what happened between a flyweight contest between Joao Elias and Walter Martins.

Elias came into the fight on a three-fight win streak in which he finished all of his opponents in the first round. The 23-year-old had scored two submissions and one knockout in that span of time, but hadn't competed since December of 2017.

Martins, however, has had a rough go of it lately. he is current 1-2 in his young MMA career. He suffered a unanimous decision loss in his professional debut back in July of 2015.

He returned for a first round submission win two years later with a Kimura in 2017, but suffered another unanimous decision defeat this past September.

Don't Turn Your Back

Returning to the cage last night, however, he faced a very talented fighter in Elias. During the fight, a cut emerged on Elias' face that got the referee's attention.

He halted the action and turned his back to go ask the doctor to come in and take a look at it. As the referee walked back, however, the two fighters got back in each other's faces and continued to fight.

The referee jumped back into the middle and tried to separate them but they continued to fight nonetheless. Martins was able to land a few head kicks and several other people stepped in to help control the situation.

Even Immortal FC President Stefano Sartori stepped into help stop the action. In the end, the action was ruled a No Contest. You can check out the wild series of events here:

MMA fighters are some of the most dangerous people on the planet. They are literally paid to be the best unarmed combat specialists in the world.

The referee grossly mishandled this situation by failing to ensure each man returned to their corner before turning his back to get the doctor.

Also, both Elias and Martins should be ashamed of themselves as well. MMA is a sport built largely of respect. To throw cheap shots at each other during a break period is as dishonorable as it gets.

There's currently no information on any repercussions for the two fighters or the referee for the incident as of this writing.

What are your thoughts on the incident between Elias and Martins at the Imortal FC 9 event in Brazil Saturday night? Let us know your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below!