An American Hockey League game looked more like a UFC fight night this weekend -- because after two players were involved in a violent on-ice tussle, one was completely covered in blood.
The wild scene all went down in the Rockford IceHogs' game against the Milwaukee Admirals in Illinois on Friday night ... when Mathieu Olivier got into it with Kurtis Gabriel in the first period.
MATHIEU OLIVIER - OH MY COD 👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/v4ev2N8Ni0
— Milwaukee Fish Fry (@mkeadmirals) March 12, 2022
The two opponents dropped their gloves, grabbed each other -- and then started throwing haymakers.
For about a minute, the guys punched the daylights out of each other, but at one point, Olivier got the upper hand, and opened up a gash on Gabriel ... and then kept swinging.
The fight was eventually broken up by refs ... but you can see in video of the clash, Gabriel's face was a mess following the tilt.
The dude's eye, hair, jersey and helmet were soaked in blood ... but somehow, it appeared he was able to stay in the game.
And, ultimately, Gabriel was able to get the last laugh on Olivier ... as the IceHogs ended up winning the game, 4-3, in a shootout.