In the ancient Olympics one of the roughest sports of all was a combination of boxing and wrestling called pancratium. There were no holds barred; everything was legal.
For example, the combatants wrapped metal-studded strips of leather around their fists. Choke holds were used. There were no weight classifications, so the larger man usually defeated the smaller man. There was no time limit. The bout went on until one man surrendered.
One of the champions of that era (about 700 B.C.) was a fighter named Arrachion. He won many such bouts–until he had to face a very formidable opponent. Arrachion had a twist hold on his opponent’s foot, but his adversary grabbed Arrachion by the throat. With one supreme effort Arrachion wrenched his opponent’s leg, causing the man to admit defeat. He lifted his arm to signal that he was finished.
As he did so, Arrachion choked to death. Yet Arrachion was declared the victor because his opponent gave in first.
From The Giant Book of More Strange But True Sports Stories by Howard Liss. Illustrations by Joe Mathieu.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrhichion
I’m not into sports. But this short story caught my attention and made me shudder. Thank you for the distraction.
Legend has it that the reason why the guy allowed himself to get choked to death rather than submit was because he heard his trainer yelling during the match: “What a noble epitaph, ‘He was never defeated at Olympia.”