MMA fighter's cauliflower ear bursts open from an elbow; bloody horror injury leads to doctor's stoppage [VIDEO]

A recently held MMA bout between Edil Esengulov and Vinicius Cruz was stopped after Cruz's cauliflower ear burst open.

This past Friday, the welterweight contest held at ACA 166 in St. Petersberg, Russia, gave us a moment that has quickly gone viral online. When Edil Esengulov was on top of Vinicius Cruz in the fourth round of their MMA bout, he landed a vicious elbow on Cruz's head, which appeared to impact his ear. As a result, the latter's cauliflower ear burst open, and blood poured all over him.

Upon noticing this, the referee stopped the fight and called a timeout. The cage-side doctor was called to have a look at Vinicius Cruz's ear, and despite his willingness to continue, the doctor called a stop the fight.

As a result, Edil Esengulov won the ACA welterweight grand prix bout via doctor's stoppage in round 4.

Take a look at the gruesome moment of Cruz's cauliflower ear bursting open in the video below (GRAPHIC WARNING):

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What is cauliflower ear, and how does it happen to MMA fighters?

Cauliflower ear is a medical condition that is often seen in MMA fighters. The condition is caused by direct trauma to the ear, which causes the skin and blood supply to separate from the cartilage, and that is why it is very commonly seen in MMA fighters.

Because of the separated blood supply, blood gets pooled and causes a bulge in the outer ear. If not treated or drained in time, there are chances of it getting infected. Moreover, the blood can solidify over time, causing a permanent bulbous shape.

Speaking about the condition, Dr. David Abbasi took to Twitter and shared a simple tip to treat the cauliflower ear. He said:

“Cauliflower ear is common in grappling sports such as Wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and MMA. The key is early treatment with drainage before these get hard and turn into scar tissue. And compression!”