Maxim Dadashev Underwent Brain Surgery Following Loss To Subriel Matias

Previously undefeated fighter Maxim Dadashev was taken to a hospital for brain surgery on Friday following his 11th-round loss to Subriel Matias, and the frightening scenes that served as evidence for just how much damage the boxer had endured.

Dadashev was clearly in no position to continue his fight against Matias that was entering the 12th round. Matias had worked the Russian’s body to the point where he was able to get repeated shots at his opponent’s face in later rounds, with each punch doing more damage than the last. Recognizing this, Buddy McGirt, Dadshev’s trainer, made a final check on the state of his fighter and decided that the best course of action was to throw in the towel to stop the IBF junior welterweight world title eliminator.

McGirt told ESPN after the fight that he wasn’t actually able to convince Dadashev to not enter the 12th round, but he made a judgment call because “one punch can change a whole guy’s life, and I wasn’t going to let that happen. I’d rather [Dadashev’s corner] be mad at me for a day or two, than to be mad at me for the rest of their life.”

McGirt’s decision was quickly validated in the worst way possible as soon as his interview ended, with ESPN cameras capturing the Russian-born fighter needing heavy assistance to leave the ring as he was unable to walk on his own. It appeared as though the plan from emergency services was to more or less carry Dadashev past the ringside seats and down a lengthy corridor to a stretcher waiting behind an ambulance. Once the fighter’s condition worsened, those assisting him starting calling for the stretcher to be brought to Dadashev so he didn’t have to walk any further. As the boxer was loaded onto the stretcher, he began to vomit heavily, with those around him providing him with buckets and a towel as he was taken into the emergency vehicle.

(Warning: The following video may have no audio, but is still disturbing).

After being put in the ambulance, Dadashev had to be redirected to a different hospital than the one that had been originally planned for him because he went unconscious while in the emergency vehicle, according to the Washington Post. ESPN reports that the boxer underwent a two-hour surgery to reduce brain swelling and deal with a subdural hematoma (bleeding brain).

Dadashev will reportedly be in the hospital for a few days as he recovers from what doctors told ESPN was “severe brain damage,” though the totality of that damage is unconfirmed.