An MMA duel went viral for all the wrong reasons over the weekend, as fighter Max Holzer got punched out of the cage following a lewd and disrespectful celebration after defeating opponent Deniz Ilbay.
The combatants squared up at OKTAGON 69 in Dortmund, Germany, on Saturday and went through a trio of tough rounds before Holzer got a grip on Ilbay in the fourth round, locking him up in a rear-naked choke.
The latter could only tap out, leading to a victory for Holzer, who chose to celebrate in a bizarre and irresponsible way.
He could have offered his hand to Ilbay for a reasonable effort but kissed him in the back of the head, grabbed him by the waist, and then mimicked a sexual act.
Max Holzer Remains Undefeated Following His Latest Win And Disrespectful Actions
Ilbay was understandably angry, and his newfound energy saw him overwhelm Holzer with a brutal pair of fists, knocking him clean out of the cage. Unfortunately, he would have been better served had he done this during the fight and not after.
Check it out in the video below:
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“ban him for life, no excuse and no tolerance for that behavior,” someone wrote in the comments.
ban him for life, no excuse and no tolerance for that behavior.
— Samuel Culper (@SamlCulper1776) April 6, 2025
“they need to ban taunts like this post fight. I didn’t like it when adesanya did it, this was even worse. there needs to be rules for respect in this game,” another user wrote.
they need to ban taunts like this post fight.
— timtam (@timtamswe) April 6, 2025
I didn’t like it when adesanya did it, this was even worse.
there needs to be rules for respect in this game.
“That was the correct response. Dude should never fight again, so disrespectful,” said a third.
That was the correct response. Dude should never fight again, so disrespectful.
— BowTiedMaker | Gentleman Designer (@BowTiedMaker) April 6, 2025
Despite getting punked for his actions, Max Holzer would celebrate at ringside, given that the win took him to an undefeated 11-0.
Deniz Ilbay, meanwhile, fell to 8-2 with the loss.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a first for MMA. Israel Adesanya did something similar to it after beating Paul Costa in 2020, pretending to hump his opponent after the referee ended their fight.
Also Read: New Details Emerge On Islam Makhachev’s Next UFC Fight, And It’s Sooner Than You Expect
