An MMA referee had to throttle a fighter because he wouldn't stop choking his opponent even after he'd won

• A referee had to choke a fighter who was refusing to release his chokehold on a beaten opponent.
• Doolotbek Narmatov made his opponent tap with a guillotine choke but kept it tight even after a tap.
• Watch the incident below.

A referee had to confront an MMA fighter because he wouldn't stop choking his opponent, long after his mixed martial arts competition had been won.

Doolotbek Narmatov refused to release his submission hold over his conclusively beaten opponent at a World Ertaymash Federation event on May 19 in the central Asian nation of Kyrgyzstan.

Narmatov headlined the "WEF Selection 35: Battle in the Mountains" show in a fight against the Uzbek athlete Saidburkhon Saidakbarova.

The bout was scheduled for three five-minute rounds, but lasted only 90 seconds as Narmatov closed the show with a guillotine choke.

But the Kyrgyz fighter held on to the choke long after the referee scored the bout as a win for him. When he wouldn't stop, the ref took physical action.

Video from the bout appeared to show the ref grabbing Narmatov by the throat and choking him himself.

Jed Meshew, one of two MMA Fighting reporters who highlighted the controversial clip on the SB Nation website, said: "He still didn't let go and then the ref choked him and he still didn't want to let go.

"That's how people get killed."

Watch it here:

Narmatov was not disqualified, and with the victory, he advanced his pro MMA record to three wins (one knockout and two submissions).