According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Ye is being taken to court by an autograph dealer who says it all went down in DTLA almost 2 years ago -- as you'll recall, video from just after the alleged attack showed the man on the ground.

He claims Ye went ballistic on him, allegedly shouting ... "I'm going to make a f***ing example of you," while referencing his divorce from Kim Kardashian -- before hitting him.

He says he asked Ye for an apology, only for the rapper to reply, "Apology for what?" ... before allegedly striking him again multiple times and "severely injuring him."

He claims one of the people with Kanye told him to stop the attack, but Ye started shouting at them, and demanded they "go to the f***ing house and get my f***ing kids."

The man is suing for damages, claiming he's a victim of assault and battery and has suffered emotional distress.

His wife is also suing for a loss of consortium -- essentially saying she lost the companionship of her husband as a result of the incident with Ye.

As we reported, a separate vid from that night showed Kanye enraged leaving a recording studio in Hollywood, shouting about 2 women who may have been with him during the downtown incident.