An MMA fighter got KO'd, but what he did next had the ref defending himself

MMA ref ends up having to save himself during a wild weekend bout

An MMA fighter was apparently so dazed and confused by an illegal kick he took to the head that he mistook the referee for his opponent and started throwing punches at him.

It happened at Trench Warz 20 in Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands over the weekend after one of the fighters landed a brutal flurry of kicks and punches, several of which seemed to catch the other square on the noggin.

And when that fighter got up off the mat, he went after the first thing he saw resembling a human, which happened to be a ref known as "Frank the Crank," who posted video of the incident to his Instagram account.

Thankfully "Frank" looked to be several weight classes heavier than the much smaller fighter who attacked him and ended up laughing it off.

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In a message to his Instagram account accompanying the video, he wrote in part:

I had the honor of being one of the refs for Trench Warz 20 this past weekend. I had one of the best experiences as a ref and martial arts competitor with this fight in particular. These guys were getting after each other right off the bat. With all the adrenaline running an illegal kick was thrown to the down opponent as you see in the footage. Usually fighters cover their heads and pretend to be in antagonizing pain to sway a disqualification win. This fighter was totally opposite of that. He was GAME! He had the Chamorro Islander fighting spirit and had no giving up in him even after getting dazed. I just happened to be in front of him as he got back up! LOL..