Partaking in professional poker is a high-risk, high-reward endeavor. To be fair, so is entering a mixed martial arts contest.

American Olivier Busquet and Mexican Juan Carlos Alvarado are professional poker players, and really good ones at that. Last September, Busquet took to Twitter to challenge whichever would be down for a six-figure MMA fight.

Alvarado immediately stepped up to the challenge and the two agreed to fight.

Alvarado is a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has a fair experience in kickboxing. On the other hand, Busquet started training in MMA only just before his fight against Alvarado. The American had just gone through a hard divorce situation, and was attempting to forge himself a new identity. On top of that, he said that he always had wanted to learn how to fight, and he believed that MMA training could help him bring greater discipline into his life.

Both men were contesting on a relatively even field though, as Busquet is much larger in size than his foe. The fight was much-anticipated among poker circles, needless to say. It took place on April 22 at the Syndicate Mixed Martial Arts Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Busquet and Alvarado both wanted to prove to themselves that they could win an MMA fight. Their honor, pride, and hard work were on the line. Oh, and more than $100 000 too. Yes, they’re poker players after all.

Alvarado showed a lot of heart in this fight but was no match for the much-larger Busquet. The American landed several hard overhand rights that rocked Alvarado. The latter tried to bring the fight to the ground and came relatively close to securing a triangle choke, but Busquet escaped. He went on to brutally pound Alvarado on the ground for most of the remaining of the fight, leaving him battered and bloody.

More than the result, what was important for both men was to learn about themselves. Was all the blood, sweat, and tears worth it? Judging by both men’s reaction after the fight, I’d say it indeed was.

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