Losses in the UFC Octagon rarely come this brutal. On November 7, 2020, UFC Vegas 13 took place at the Apex. The event was headlined by Glover Teixeira’s submission win over Thiago Santos and featured impressive performances from the likes of Giga Chikadze, Raoni Barcelos, and Alexandr Romanov. But that card was also memorable for another reason - the disgusting injury suffered by one of the night’s losing fighters.
The Fight and the Injury
After impressing under the banner of LFA, Ramiz Brahimaj made his UFC debut five years ago in Las Vegas. He fought Max Griffin, who had already accumulated nine fights worth of experience on the biggest stage in MMA. 'Pain' was coming off back-to-back decision losses heading into UFC Vegas 13.
As Griffin began to turn up the heat in the final round, the brutal shot connected to the side of Brahimaj’s head and almost tore his ear completely off. The referee then called off the contest as part of Brahimaj’s ear seemed to have separated. When referee Mark Smith got a look at the disgusting injury, he quickly waved off the fight, awarding Griffin the TKO victory. Griffin won the match by third-round TKO.
Even Griffin exclaimed, "Oh my God, Oh my God," after realizing the elbow he shot across Brahimaj's temple nearly disconnected his ear from his head. With the victory, Pain snapped a two-fight losing streak, improving his MMA record to 16-8. The finish was Griffin’s 10th in his career, winning eight via KO or TKO and two via submission.
On the other end, Brahimaj’s UFC debut was spoiled and his record fell to 8-3. After the fight was over, UFC color commentator and former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz commented that it appeared Brahimaj’s ear was “literally falling off his head.”
“Mind-blowing,” Cruz continued. “That’s how dangerous this is ladies and gentlemen. It’s not a game what we’re doing here.”
MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn shared an image of Brahimaj’s ear.
“The first thing I thought was, ‘Man, I’m going to be on Worldstar Hip Hop,'” Brahimaj said while recounting the injury during an interview with MMA Junkie.
He was still able to have a laugh about the gruesome injury, jokingly writing on social media in the aftermath, “Tis but a flesh wound.”
Medical Perspectives on the Injury
Brahimaj’s injury shocked just about every corner of the MMA community, even including those who work in the medical field.
Dr. John Hilinski, who describes himself as ‘San Diego’s leading facial plastic surgeon’ and a specialist ear surgeon, posted about the injury on social media.
The longtime MMA fan noted that he had never seen anything close to that injury in the UFC.
“Did anyone else see this unbelievably nasty ear injury during last night’s UFC fight? Ramiz Brahimaj suffered this deep laceration (tear) after taking a harsh elbow across the ear,” he wrote on Instagram.
“You can readily see the cartilage framework of his ear was torn away from its normal attachment point.
Dr. David Abbasi, a UFC and mixed martial arts ringside physician, agreed that the fight needed to be stopped after Brahimaj sustained the ear injury. His ear was about to completely detach and fall on the octagon floor!”
He continued, “Nasty ear injury #Brahmaj at #UFCVegas13. He will get sutured in [the] back by doctors. Nasty ear injury #Brahmaj at #UFCVegas13. This was no brainer, as ear was about to completely detach. He will get sutured in back by doctors.
Brahimaj's Return and Future Aspirations
These days, Ramiz Brahimaj is quickly rising up the welterweight ladder. He has won three fights in a row, the most recent of which saw Brahimaj submit Austin Vanderford at UFC 320. Things have not always gone well for the New York native inside the Octagon, however. That was the case in his promotional debut, which ended with one of the most gruesome injuries in UFC history.
Back in October, Brahimaj returned to live action, competing in a grappling match. “It was the biggest reality check for me, and it made me love fighting and miss fighting so much,” he says, reflecting on the entire ordeal just a couple weeks out from his first UFC appearance in more than two years.
“I thought that was it. “I’ve probably been a thorn in the side of Sean Shelby, too, pulling out of my last two fights, and now I just wanna apologize to him,” he adds. “It was one of the lowest points of my life and I can’t wait to come back and do so much more for him and the company.
"I have every intention, God-willing, of being ever-present in that moment and making the most of it, because it feels like everything was stripped away,” he adds.
“It feels like what happened was almost an out of body experience where I was stripped away from Ramiz Brahimaj, and the angels were telling me, ‘Look at what you had! Look what you could do!
With the victory over Brahimaj, Pain picked up his fourth win the UFC, bringing his promotional record to 4-6. Prior to his victory on Saturday night, Griffin had dropped two decisions in a row to Alex Oliveria and Alex Morono. He has been in the Octagon with the likes of top contender Colby Covington and veteran Thiago Alves.
“I’m going to heal these [cuts] up and I’m trying to get in there,” Griffin said. “I’m trying to fight some good guys. Some guys I’m looking at, Carlos Condit, all due respect. Carlos Condit, Vicente Luque, you know I’m trying to get in there and slug it out. Carlos Condit and Vicente Luque! Max Griffin had some names for Jon Anik! Condit recently got back onto the winning track, defeating Court McGee in October and ending a five-fight losing streak. Luque is surging in the welterweight division, winning eight fights in his last nine.