Over the last ten years, the UFC has brought MMA to the mainstream with household name superstars and dozens of events per year. Watching hundreds of fights can go a long way towards desensitizing viewers to the very real perils of fighting.

In addition to losing sight of the ever present danger that exists within a fight, many people who consider themselves to be big fans of the sport of mixed martial arts fail to realize how much safer it is to engage in a regulated cage fight than it is to scrap in the street, outside the watchful eyes of a referee or in close proximity to medical professionals who are trained to tend to injured fighters.

There’s also that pesky, unyielding concrete to worry about. It has been proven time and time again that smashing someone’s body onto the concrete below is a fabulous and truly brutal way to end a fight, incapacitate an opponent, and maybe even change their life forever. While it’s never comfortable being slammed down onto a mat (which still carries a very real possibility of being knocked out), there’s not a person alive who wouldn’t choose that over being smashed into the street.

The video begins with two young men throwing hands in such a way that you’d think it was the first time they’d ever tried it. One is able to quickly secure a clinch from the back. With no idea how to defend it, his opponent is lifted into the air and dropped directly on the back of his head.

He lays in the street unconscious, his open eyes staring off into the spirit world as his friends try helping him to his feet.

“>

Jeff Warsaw is the former executive editor of Long Island MMA Magazine, professional combat sports public address announcer for several NY/NJ MMA and kickboxing promotions, and a proud one-stripe white belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under the famed Joe D’Arce. He is currently a musician, coffee enthusiast and host of the Stranger In A Strange Land podcast on YouTube.