Max Griffin celebrates after his victory over Ramiz Brahimaj in their fight at UFC Vegas 13. Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

UFC fighter said gruesome injury that facial surgeon had never seen in MMA was ‘just a flesh wound’

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Harvey Leonard | Last updated Nov 7, 2025 9:56 PM ET

Losses in the UFC Octagon rarely come this brutal.

On this day, November 7, in 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.

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.

Ramiz Brahimaj’s ear was almost severed by Max Griffin’s brutal elbow at UFC Vegas 13

After impressing under the banner of LFA, Brahimaj made his UFC debut five years ago today 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. After a couple of rounds against Brahimaj, Griffin had already ensured that trend would not continue, as he was ahead on two of the judges’ scorecards.

But he still wasn’t about to let the fight go the distance, and it took one devastating elbow to ensure it did not.

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. When referee Mark Smith got a look at the disgusting injury, he quickly waved off the fight, awarding Griffin the TKO victory.

“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.”

Facial surgeon was shocked to see Ramiz Brahimaj’s ear almost torn off in a UFC fight

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. Fortunately for him, this should be a fairly straightforward surgical repair without much in the way of long-term consequences.

“I have followed the UFC from literally their first event, but have never seen anything like this one!”

This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.

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