Over the weekend, the medieval fighters of Mordhau put aside their swords for a more noble and honest fight. The ninth annual Moldhau Fist Fighting Championship turned the annual fisticuffs into a fundraiser to help fellow fighters facing the enormous costs of cancer treatment.

Cameron Elliott, a 21-year-old Moldhow player, was diagnosed earlier this year with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, an aggressive blood cancer. After only a few months of treatment for the famously expensive disease, Elliott's family now faces a mountain of tremendous medical bills. Elliott said in a video released last week. And my treatment has been long and very difficult.”

In total, Elliott's medical bills have exceeded $36,000. The family's entire savings covered only half of the medical expenses, leaving them $18,000 in debt. Thankfully, Elliott's friends at the Moldhow Fistfighting Championships are willing to bloody up for this debt.

The MFC, an annual, one-on-one fistfighting tournament, began using the annual contest as a fundraiser in its fifth year, raising more than $10,000 for organizer Philip Hall's father, whose military service-related disability treatment was not discovered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.MFC is small community, but has been successful in raising thousands of dollars in fundraisers for the Multiple Sclerosis Society and others, Hall said in an email.

At MFC IX, 64 boxers brawled over two days, and some 400 viewers made 36 donations to Elliott's GoFundMe, totaling more than $2,000. While this may seem like a modest number, this is an average donation of about $55, which is respectable for a player-run event, and Mordhau's developer, Triternion, has congratulated the event and is increasing in-game gold and DLC rewards based on tournament standings.

I admit that I was surprised to see the show of mutual support from the Mordhau community, given the player's history with toxicity. 'What we have shown is that Mordhau's heart is bigger than its toxicity. In our small community, the same people who trash-talk and troll in chat rooms could be the same people who donate to your cancer treatment tomorrow.” Hall said. Perhaps there is a lesson here for my own twisted little mind. (11]

Elliott, who has helped MFC run past tournaments, said MFC's ongoing fundraising is an encouraging reminder that help can be found when needed. Says Elliott, “Seeing the work we've done come back for me when I really need it makes me very proud and grateful to be a part of the Mordhau Fistfighting community.” The passion and generosity of the participants and organizers never cease to amaze me, and it makes me so happy to know that there are still kind people out there in the world doing good.”