José Peñaloza arrived at his UWC 43 bout with a pretty impressive cauliflower ear. But it wasn’t enough to withstand the punishment he took from Dorian Ramos, leading to a ghastly scene in their featherweight bout.
Peñaloza’s right ear was a swollen mess, prompting the referee to take a hard look at the injury before giving the fighter another chance to turn the tables.
Check out Peñaloza’s cauliflower ear below, courtesy of @Grabaka_Hitman.
This fight was almost just stopped due to dude’s ear being on the verge of exploding #UWC43 pic.twitter.com/T4SgIgMSHQ
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) April 29, 2023
A spell of ground and pound from Ramos only made things worse for Peñaloza, whose ear exploded. The referee was forced to step in to wave off the bout, giving Ramos the title win at 2:57 of Round 2.
Check out the stoppage below, courtesy of UFC Fight Pass.
TKO due to ear explosion. #UWC43 pic.twitter.com/yiMFaZBOsJ
— UFC FIGHT PASS (@UFCFightPass) April 29, 2023
Combate vet Ramos improved his record to 6-1 while Peñaloza dropped to 3-2 in the main event in Tijuana, Baja, Mexico.