>

And further the whole mythology the martial arts and fighting sport communities have built around "street fights" is just silly and 99% of it is stupid asshole macho chest puffing.
Here's the truth.  And it's the truth that any self defense instructor who actually cares about you will tell you.
In a fight the bigger person is usually going to win.  If the bigger person gets in a good solid first strike, he's almost always going to win.  If the bigger person manages to get in a good solid first strike when you are not ready for it, taking you by surprise, where he is already mentally "on" and ready for a fight and you are not, he's always winning within a statistical margin of error.  All the elite black belt ninja navy seal tricks don't matter because you've already lost the fight before you're in a headspace to deploy them.
Self defense is not about fighting.  A good self defense strategy is a handful of solid techniques and strategies to survive the opening moments of being taken by surprise so you can counter just enough to get fuck out of there.
"Getting a takedown doesn't stop someone from grabbing your balls and squeezing or slamming your head on concrete"
But the MMA fighter would be better prepared to fight on the ground, including doing those things, breaking your limbs, etc