Dana White gives medical update after UFC 324 referee is carried from cage with horrific injury

Dana White has confirmed referee Mark Smith ‘blew’ his ACL during a fight at UFC 324.

Smith refereed Ateba Gautier’s middleweight bout against Andrey Pulyaev and Josh Hokit’s first-round knockout of Denzel Freeman on the preliminary card.

Getty

They both went down before Justin Gaethje defeated Paddy Pimblett in a bloody main event and Sean O’Malley returned to the win column.

Gautier was a massive favourite going into the fight, and although he controlled Pulyaev for most of the 15 minutes, not many MMA fans expected it to go the distance as the former claimed a unanimous decision win.

However, the most shocking thing to come from the match-up was the injury sustained by referee Smith.

Dana White confirms UFC referee blew ACL

Footage emerged of Smith being carried out of T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, causing widespread concern from fans over what had happened.

Speaking at the UFC 324 post-fight press conference, White was surprised that he wasn’t asked about the incident.

“Nobody’s asked me about the referee blowing his ACL during the fight,” White said before confirming that it was indeed an ACL injury.

“[Bruce] Buffer is the only person I’ve ever seen blowing an ACL who wasn’t fighting.”

The cause of Smith’s injury is not yet known.

What else happened at UFC 324?

Pimblett was rushed straight to hospital after his defeat at UFC 324, so he didn’t attend the post-fight presser.

Gaethje, on the other hand, was there, having refused immediate medical attention.

Getty

“I really wanted to finish him, but I loved teaching him a lesson,” Gaethje said.

“He said my face was not going to look the same, and that after the fight, his would look the exact same…

“He’s going to learn from this. You cannot have that mentality when you come in here.

“He needs to accept the worst possible outcome, and that is how you perform the best.

“His mindset was not good going into this fight — false confidence will kill you.”

Gaethje is now likely to face undisputed lightweight champion Ilia Topuria next.

Getty

Topuria wanted Pimblett to overcome Gaethje, so the pair could settle their longtime rivalry.

In his first reaction to Pimblett’s defeat, Topuria called the Liverpudlian a ‘little sausage’ and said he fumbled the biggest payday of his career.