Sometimes we become numb to the violence we consume on a daily basis, and it takes an overdose to feel any sort of normal human sensation.
But when UFC fighters Chris Duncan and Mateusz Rebecki stepped in the cage Aug. 2, it hit many viewers – even the hardcores – differently. The level of savagery both displayed resulted in one of MMA’s best fights of 2025 so far.
While the cheers concluded within minutes and the discussion of the fight was done for most within a week, the damage both inside and out takes a lot longer to heal.
It’s the sacrifice fighters make when the gloves are taped up and the cage door is locked. It’s tremendously cliche in MMA to use the word “warriors,” but it’s hard for even the most weathered combat sports viewer to not watch video recently released by Duncan and not feeling all the feels.
Duncan posted a clip of a second run-in he had with Rebecki – this time, in the hospital after the grueling three-round war he won. Duncan and Rebecki trained together in the past at American Top Team, so the foundation for friendship was already there. But even if they were sworn enemies, it’s likely the experience of that fight would’ve turned them.
Duncan, his face swollen like he stuck it in a riled up beehive, and Rebecki who looked like he was hit with a wooden baseball bat in the left eye, shared an embrace, as compliments flowed each way.
“Thank for being such a good guy, a professional,” Duncan said.
“It was an honor,” both men said.
It might not make sense to the outsiders, who cringe at the first jab thrown, but there is beauty in the violence. And perhaps that takes our desensitized souls to realize that.
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