At UFC 324, veteran referee Mark Smith suffered an ACL injury, typically reserved for fighters, while officiating a middleweight bout, leading to speculation and requiring medical attention.
There’s a first time for everything—even referees getting injured during fights. Yep, you read that right.
At UFC 324 on Saturday, video surfaced showing veteran ref Mark Smith being helped backstage. Speculation ran wild—was it a medical emergency? Nope. Turns out, Smith suffered an injury usually reserved for the fighters he oversees.
“Nobody’s asked me about the ref blowing his ACL during the fight,” Dana White mentioned at the post-fight presser. “[It was his] ACL. [Bruce] Buffer’s the only one I’ve seen blow an ACL that wasn’t fighting.”
Footage captured Smith leaving the arena, but when and where did the injury happen? Unclear. The last bout he officiated was the middleweight clash between Ateba Gautier and Andrey Pulyaev. Despite the injury, Smith stuck around to raise Gautier’s hand after his unanimous decision win.
White admitted he didn’t know how it happened. Definitely one of the stranger situations he’s seen in over 25 years running the UFC.
“Blew his ACL—I don’t know what the time was, but they had to carry him out of there,” White added.
Smith hasn’t directly addressed the injury. However, he did post a positive message after seeking medical care.
An Armed Services veteran and pilot, Smith is a frequent referee in Nevada, the UFC’s home turf. Given his injury, he’ll likely be sidelined for most of the next year before returning to the octagon.