Believe it or not, punching, clawing, and kicking just might save a life.

Every culture, dating back to the Ancient Greeks, has been drawn to combat sports. Featuring sumo wrestlers, martial artists, boxers, and more, this immersive, gritty documentary series dives into the worlds of fighters across the globe, joining them as they train and prepare for brawl in which the stakes are high—and the dangers are very real—in an effort to discover what draws us to fight.

Scar Tissue: Former World Champion boxer Christy Martin, like Cat, endured a cruel personal tragedy at the height of her career.

Who I Am: California High School wrestler Rebeca Camacho prepares for the State Championships and finds that fighting may have saved her life.

Crossroads: Carlos Morales, an amateur MMA fighter, is caught between a career as a fighter or a career in medicine.

I Against I: Marine Veteran and pro-MMA fighter Shane Kruchten uses fighting to help cope with his PTSD.

Prize Fighter: Jake Haas trains for his Muay Thai pro debut as he learns the economic realities of being a pro fighter.

The Other Side of the World: Duangdaonoi Looksaikongdin, a 21-year-old professional Muay Thai fighter, has a very different reason for fighting than Cat.

I Am Cat Zingano: The young, idealistic, defending amateur Muay Thai World Champion Loma Lookboonmee reminds Cat a lot of herself.

Partners

Why We Fight was executive produced by Ronda Rousey and debuted on Verizon’s Go90 and ESPN+.

Produced by

Gotham ChopraExecutive Producer
Ronda RouseyExecutive Producer
Martin Desmond RoeExecutive Producer
Chris UettwillerExecutive Producer
Matthew Ogens Executive Producer
Adam FeinsteinExecutive Producer
Victor BuhlerExecutive Producer in Charge of Production
Meghan CirilloPost-Production Supervisor
Matt Roe Co-Executive Producer
Maria BukhoninaConsulting Producer
Giselle ParetsConsulting Producer
Jonny NatasDevelopment Producer