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A man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for inflicting severe injuries to his friend's head while "testing" mixed martial arts (MMA) skills "for fun."

The Ulsan District Court convicted the attacker in his 20s on Monday for causing the victim to acquire a disability due to his MMA-style takedown on a street in Ulsan in January 2023.

As a result of the attack, the victim suffered injuries to the occipital area — a region of the brain — and was eventually diagnosed with anosmia, the partial or full loss of smell.

The assailant argued that he did so just for fun, saying that he did not have any intention of hurting him and that such a grave consequence was unforeseeable.

However, the panel of judges, led by judge Kim Jong-hyuk, rejected his claims, saying that he was clearly aware of the risk associated with his action given his experience in MMA training.

"Anyone can foresee that taking someone down on the hard ground could result in physical damage," the court said. "The defendant, who has experience of learning MMA, must have been well aware of that risk."