MMA star Pat Sabatini suffered a gruesome broken arm as he refused to tap out against James Gonzalez in their Cage Fury Fighting Championship title fight.

The 29-year-old lost his featherweight title just 46 seconds into the first round after the referee immediately waved away the contest.

Sabatini had been expected to make light work of his opponent with Gonzalez, 29, taking the fight on just six days notice.

The duo went toe-to-toe from the opening bell, with the challenger being sent to the canvas, before he wrapped his legs round the defending champ's throat.

After Sabatini slipped out of his manoeuvre, Gonzalez immediately latched on to his arm where he tightened his hold and began to torque it backwards.

Refusing to submit, Sabatini's arm snapped – much to the horror of those watching – with Gonzalez instantly alerting the ref, who swiftly moved in to halt the bout.

It was later revealed that as well as a broken arm, Sabatini had also suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder and elbow.

Fans booed the newly-crowned champion Gonzalez following the outcome, as ring announcer CM Punk told the partisan crowd to calm down.

Speaking after the encounter, Gonzalez said: "First I would like say, I wish that didn’t happen. I wish he could have tapped and saved his arm from breaking like that.

“I respect Pat Sabatini, he’s been on the circuit with me since I started and I always thought I was going to fight him sooner but we fought tonight and this is what happened.

"I wish him a speedy recovery and that’s all I got to say about that. I’ve been trying to get fights as much as possible.

"It’s really hard to find guys who want to fight me, in either weight class, and I guess you guys saw why."

Fans were full of praise of Sabatini on social media, as one tweeted: "Damn that arm broke broke @CFFCMMA that was vicious! Pray for recovery for Sabatini ! Respect on the no tap."

Another commented: "Sabatini is tough as nails. How he didn’t tap is beyond me."

A third added: "Smh that's awful. That arm is never gonna be the same. Some dudes are just too tough for their own good."

One simply stated: "Sometimes all you need to do is tap. You tap to fight another day."

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