>And it’s just strange to me to consider that a part of basic human fitness
I see what you're saying. It's probably our modern bias at work, because interpersonal violent conflict was part and parcel of most of human history, especially for men. (Source: <em>The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined</em>, by Steven Pinker.) Even when I was a kid, playground and alley fights bwtween two individuals were still a thing, and even if you lost, you were still expected to make a good showing.