British Army leaves Afghanistan
US Marines on board a helicopter at Kandahar air base, Afghanistan Reuters

They're a legendary fighting corps, but just how tough are the US marines - really? In a bid to find out, some of the top contenders in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) took them on.

UFC is the world's leading professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fight promoter, regularly selling out big arenas and stadiums across the globe and with a television audience of millions.

Five leading UFC fighters - Marcus Davis, Rashad Evans, Forrest Griffin, Brian Stann (a Marine veteran himself ) and UFC President Dana White - went over to Virginia's Marine Corps Martial Arts Center of Excellence, better known as MACE, to find out if they could kick some marine ass.

The results can be seen in a YouTube video called "UFC Fighters Experience Marine Corps Martial Arts".

YouTube

After watching a morning demonstration of techniques, the UFC fighters attempted a training trial used to test Marines for their abilities with knives, bayonets, and fighting sticks. The UFC fighters lost - badly. It's not exaggerating to say they got stomped.

Even ex-Marine Brian Stann had difficulty fending off his fellow Marines, who were all martial arts experts. And so the message is: don't mess with the US Marines - even if you're some of the most famous martial arts fighters in the whole world.