H/T Thomas Ventimiglia

The top-tier UFC fighters don’t make millions for no reason. They are good at what they do in the most grueling sport there is. They are supremely conditioned, expert in the martial arts, quick and powerful.

Four of UFC’s elite traveled to Iraq to visit our troops stationed there, perform for them, and even scrap with a few. How do you think America’s servicemen fared against top UFC fighters?

UFC fighter Sam Alvey was all humility after a stint in Iraq performing for — and scrapping with — America’s warriors serving overseas, according to TMZ.

Alvey visited the nation’s heroes with three of his fellow octagon fighters, including Diego Sanchez, Joe Lauzon and Jake Ellenberger.

“We were thrilled to be there,” Alvey said in the interview. “It’s not very often that someone gets to go and do something so cool.”

“I’ve always said that the biggest regret in my life is that I never served,” Varney went on, adding “I wasn’t serving, but it felt like at least I was doing something.”

While in Iraq, Alvey ran into a U.S. soldier that showed that the nation’s troops are no strangers to hand-to-hand combat.

When asked about the toughness of the soldiers overseas, Alvey didn’t hold back.

“They’re all tougher than I’ll ever be, just for what they’ll do and what they’re willing to sacrifice.”

“As far as the skill in terms of jujitsu and rolling,” he continued, “We got to roll with a lot of them. There were some studs out there.”

“Really?” The TMZ interviewer asked.

“Yeah! One even caught me!” Alvey replied. “They all lift. They all lift a lot. And so Joe and I and Diego and Jake a little bit … Diego didn’t play with anyone, Diego went in there and took heads … the rest of us played a little bit. And those guys … they did notplay.

Alvey describes his run-in with a soldier who got him to tap out with a version of the “guillotine.”

“One of them just kind of grabbed me and ‘Yeeearrghhh!’ He grabbed my head — it’s one of those where I probably could have gotten out of it, but I didn’t want the sore neck for the next week, so … ‘take it, take it.’”

“So did you tap?” he was asked.

“I tapped, I did,” Alvey admitted. “It was some bear of a man. I’m glad he is on our side.”

A taste of the UFC fighters facing off with our nation’s soldiers in the octagon can be seen below, via TMZ Sports:

Z Sports:

Visiting the nation’s troops ahead of the Independence Day holiday — now that is a world class move by the UFC!