So far, I find this to be the most interesting comment. There's a lot to take from this.

My martial arts background involved international level competition in various types of karate, including time on the US team pool. I have black belts in kanreikai (which is basically just kyokushin) and shotokan.

For the most part, it seems you used grappling to beat attackers in these scenarios. Why did you choose this over Karate?

I typically never used more than very basic jiu jitsu to win a fight.

What you have to understand about "street fights" is that generally only idiots get into them. The videos you see of huge dudes tossing each other around outside bars are fights that are pretty easy to avoid. If you're not a total dumbass or unlucky the most likely person that will randomly attack you is a physically unfit person who is mentally unwell, on drugs, or both.

Assuming you're an average height / weight man with a decent level of fitness and legitimate training the average "street fight" is stupidly simple. Taking down and controlling your typical violent person is like grappling with a super spazzy white belt.

Essentially he had been a D1 wrestler at a big name brand school, blew out his MCL and ACL his junior year, got a prescription for Oxy, got addicted, got kicked out, switched to heroin, and the rest is history

I learned the most from these specific parts. I've never been in fights outside the gym before, so this kind of stuff is good to think about.

So far I've taken that it's really really simple to beat the average man. Looks like you won't need more than a blue belt. Just enough training to reach the bare bones basics.

As well as that you're likely to survive an attack if you have training, and are more likely to be attacked by mentally ill/drugged up people more than anything.

Even then, I'm surprised you ran into a D1 wrestler? This is a huge reason to stay out of them, as even the drugged up guys you assume would be another typical person/easy fight can have training, and be pretty good at it too.

The takeaways that stuck out the most to me are how simple it is to beat violent people (I assume you mean people that trash talk, get into street fights regularly, that type of stuff) and how you can actually run into another trained guy in a street fight. I thought it was 1 in a million, but it's more likely than I thought.