UFC Ref Mark Smith's Injury Revealed by Dana White After Viral Video Being Carried Out of UFC 324

During UFC 324 on Saturday, fans were concerned after a video surfaced online of referee Mark Smith being helped backstage after working a fight earlier in the night.

UFC president Dana White clarified after the event that Smith injured his knee in a way that's usually reserved for fighters.

"Nobody's asked me about the ref blowing his ACL during the fight," White said during the UFC 324 post-fight press conference, per Damon Martin of MMA Fighting. "[It was his] ACL. [Bruce] Buffer's the only one I've seen blow an ACL that wasn't fighting."

Before being taken to the back, the last fight Smith refereed was the middleweight bout between Ateba Gautier and Andrey Pulyaev.

"Blew his ACL — I don't know what the time was but they had to carry him out of there," White said.

Smith, who is also an Armed Services veteran and pilot, posted a message of positive affirmation on his Instagram after being helped backstage, but he didn't address the injury directly. He's one of the most active referees in the state of Nevada, where the UFC calls home. His injury is likely to sideline him for a large part of the year.