In martial arts, you're as good as what you train for. Lots of people know how to fight, but very few understand how to frame mentally for combat. Never train for the man. Train for the man possessed. Make your opponent unbeatable in your mind. Better, faster, smarter, more elusive. So when the real deal comes, they will crumble against each and every expectation you've projected onto them with ease. A great movie showcasing this principle is Hero (2002). You train for the demon, not the man. And you become the demon. You are ten steps ahead. You get it. Have devoted a good 15 years of my life to the study of many varieties of martial arts. One thing I understood in that time is that people, as in the general masses - don't understand combat. Especially the ones who think they do. They only understand results - but very little of what actually goes on that builds up to said results. For the average insecure human - combat is seen as just endless, pretentious posturing between men. It always boils down to a "oh yeah? well I bet my dad could beat up your dad!" type of conversation. That is why I find it a waste of time to discuss the deadly intricacies of combat with the regular Joe, and so should amateur or professional fighters. It's like talking about top-tier culinary arts with someone who's sat on a McDonalds diet their whole life. They know it's food, they know whether they like it or not - but that's it, that's the degree of their expertise in the field. Now these are blatant to-the-back-of-the-head elbows - there's no way around it, whether your opponent was already hurt, caught or whatever does not matter if rules are to be, well, followed and regulated. If you've trained even a day of kickboxing or boxing - you know how life-altering and dangerous these can be. There's a reason these are banned. Same thing for eye pokes - which play a significant role in how many fights unfold and ultimately turn out ending. Heck, even the main event on this very same card was, in my opinion, largely shaped by a massive early eye-poke that went completely unnoticed. If the rules of engagement are not regulated in a professional manner, then the rules only exist in theory and on paper - or they only apply when the US president isn't in the building because it's somehow considered boring to stop the action when one fighter is caught blatantly cheating. In any proper sport - this would be an immediate disqualification. But MMA and the UFC in particular, especially in recent years, has been anything but. And remember what we said about that McDonalds diet? Yeah, the question is this: As long as Joe gets his burger in - does it really matter if the server spits under his bun once or twice? It's still a good burger. Because Joe doesn't know any better. And if it isn't - Joe only has himself to blame for paying for the service, assuming he knew what he was getting himself into, right?