MMA shirt at the center of assault trial

A shirt "popular with MMA fans" set off a fight in Illinois that left a man blind and paralyzed. No, for real.

Anna Minette, a friend of the victim Eric Bartels, pointed out a spot on the shirt of Joe Messina, the man charged with assault. Messina responded it was just blood, and here's where it got ugly.

Minette testified that she and Bartels both thought "that's odd" and Bartels told Messina "he should take care of that."

The comment sent Messina into a rage, she testified. "He kind of just (started) yelling," she said. "'It's going to be your blood.'"

Bartels and Minette were moving away when she heard "a loud crack" behind her and turned to see Bartels sprawled out on the pavement, with "blood pooling around his head," she testified.

Bartels survived the attack but is now blind and paralyzed.

Cagewriter has made many, many jokes about MMA apparel. Some of the shirts are truly appalling, but never a reason for violence.

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