If the UFC carries on with its current trajectory, it will probably end up being assimilated into the WWE wrestling scene.

OK, we’re kidding, but this past weekend taught us that the spectacle surrounding the sport’s biggest fights, including the trash-talking and pre-fight antics, has become more talked about than the battles themselves.

The human thirst for blood isn’t going anywhere any time soon, but if you wanted to watch bare-knuckle boxing in America, you generally had to channel your inner Brad Pitt Fight Club vibes in a dingy underground room somewhere.

The times are a-changing, though, because a landmark event has just taken place.

Here’s the VICE write-up:

Since its heyday in the late 1800s, bare-knuckle boxing in the US has been relegated to parking lots and grimy basements, an underground sport that couldn’t find a way to bring itself above board. But in June of 2018—after spending years petitioning almost 30 states to sanction the brutal fights—promoter David Feldman finally managed to stage America’s first-ever legal bare-knuckle boxing match in Wyoming.

VICE went to the Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championships in Cheyenne a few days ahead of the big event to hear how Feldman managed to pull it off, and to meet a handful of fighters for whom boxing—and even MMA fighting—just isn’t hardcore enough.

In summary, there will be blood:

[source:vice]