An MMA fighter was shoved out of the cage after being hit with a violent knee strike in the middle of a match

• In MMA, cage doors are meant to be locked shut for the safety of fighters and fans.
• That didn't happen at a sub-regional event in southern Brazil.

Mixed martial arts really is the sport of kings.

Don't believe us? Check out this footage from a combat sports event called Home Fight Championship 3 that recently took place in the Santa Luzia region of southern Brazil.

The show was sub-regional level, with a questionable looking cage surface, a cage which appeared smaller than standard size, and plastic white chairs in the arena. The referee for the event was wearing jeans.

One bout featured Romero Reis against Diego Galo.

In the clip below, you can see Reis charge at Galo with a flying knee, before seemingly shoving him out of the cage door for good measure.

Why the cage door was open, only the event organizers will know. For safety, cage doors are almost always closed and locked shut once the combatants are inside.

If you've never seen a fighter literally beaten out of a cage, you can watch it happen below:

The day was obviously not so lucky for Galo, but he appeared to make a reasonable recovery. It is unclear who won, or if the bout ended in a no contest.