‘WTF Ilia Topuria Did To My Boy’: UFC Fans Blame ‘El Matador’ for Allegedly Damaging Max Holloway’s Brain After Viral ‘Weird’ Video

Before his UFC Featherweight title match with Ilia Topuria, Max Holloway had never been knocked out. But that all changed at UFC 308. With the cleanest of left hooks, Topuria knocked Holloway out before his head could hit the floor.

Heading into UFC 308, Holloway had lost seven times in 26 fights, stretching back to his debut in 2010. A former Featherweight Champion and current holder of the ‘BMF’ title in the UFC, Holloway had created a reputation as a tough guy in the promotion.

Having been in violent battles against the likes of Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, Justin Gaethje, and Alexander Volkanovski, Holloway’s long-term health has always been subject to discussion among fans and analysts alike.

But with this worrying video of Holloway going viral on Twitter, many believe those fears have been realized.

The footage, posted by UFC play-by-play commentator Ben Davis, shows Holloway watching television. A stuffed toy Pokémon doll in hand, the Hawaiian-born fighter seems to be struggling with his speech and behaving strangely.

“Ayo is Max Holloway okay?”asked Davis, followed by two crying emojis.

The video, which is nearing 400,000 views on X, drew a litany of concerned responses from fans. Many of them cited Topuria’s brutal knockout punch as a possible cause of Holloway’s allegedly deteriorating health.

Other users were quick to suggest that Holloway may be suffering from a serious brain trauma. “Brain damage at its finest,” replied X user JacobCookeMMA.

Another user, official.Jay, echoed this: “cte kicking in,” referencing chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated head trauma. Notably, CTE can also lead to behavioral changes.

It does well to remember that these are merely speculations, and matters like CTE and brain damage are not to be taken lightly. Especially in the case of fighters like Holloway, who have been at the receiving end of hundreds of headshots.

Poirier’s final match: should it be Holloway considering retirement?

Holloway’s next fight doesn’t get much easier as he’s been confirmed to fight Poirier in the final fight of his career.

This will be the third time the two fighters meet, with Poirier winning both the previous meetings. Keen to celebrate the career of Poirier, the match will headline UFC 318 in Poirier’s hometown of New Orleans.

While Poirier has never won undisputed gold in the UFC, he’ll have an opportunity to snatch the BMF title from Holloway if he wins in his final fight. It is a title that Holloway has held since 2024, when he memorably beat Justin Gaethje with a last-minute knockout at UFC 300.

But looking at Holloway’s condition in the viral video, it must be asked whether he has any of those special moments left in him. Over six months on from that Topuria knockout, and Holloway doesn’t exactly look ready to take on Poirier – a fighter with 23 stoppages from 30 victories.

Holloway has yet to respond to fans’ concerns, but a UFC career of 13 years behind him, perhaps taking a page out of Poirier’s book and calling it a day has its own merit.