A cameraman at a Russian MMA event has been locked inside the cage with competitors when the fight resumed.
The strange spectacle occurred at Open Fighting Championships 36 in St Petersburg last week.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Cameraman gets trapped inside cage mid-fight.
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The two fighters, Gadzhimurad Gairbekov and Dilshot Norkuziev, were in the fourth round of their flyweight bout, when the cameraman failed to leave the cage.
The two fighters seemed unfazed by the camera chord that stretched across the middle of the cage, and the extra man in there with them.
Both fighters threw several combinations and Gairbekov landed a takedown on his opponent before the referee put a pause to the action.
The cameraman, who had been yelling throughout the almost 10 seconds he was locked in the cage, was finally let out.
The fight then recommenced, with Gairbekov defeating Norkuziev by unanimous decision to win the flyweight championship title.
Many people took commented on the ridiculous scene on social media.
“That is something you do not see every day,” one fan tweeted.
“I have seen the fighters start fighting before the cage door was closed, but never seen everyone forget about the camera guy,” another commented.
“Russian mma… don’t ever change,” a third said.
Failures by staff at events like this are rare, but not completely unheard of.
Earlier this year, security at UFC 284 in Perth failed when an Australian YouTube influencer managed to scam his way into the event.
Ringside tickets for UFC 284 at RAC Arena were going for as much as $6500, but Michael Todoro – known as MikeyT – scammed his way in without paying a cent.
The Perth local even managed to walk out alongside Alexander Volkanovski before the Aussie fighter’s epic bout with Russian Islam Makhachev.
“We literally just walked straight in and there were no questions asked,” Todoro told 7NEWS Perth.
Todoro pulled off the heist by making a fake media pass and lanyard, as well as a homemade UFC polo.
“I made it in the laundry downstairs with the iron,” Todoro explained of the shirt.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, the influencer can be heard saying, “no idea how I’ve done this” as he sits a mere metre away from the octagon.
– With Ben Sutton
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