As the sport of mixed martial arts grows in popularity across the country, apparently many in the finance world are not content to be simply spectators.
In a scene straight out of Fight Club, bankers and traders are said to be trading in their gelled-hair and Armani ties for black eyes and cut lips at gyms around the city.
Max McGarr, a gym program director and professional fighter, told Bloomberg News, "We get a lot of finance guys. It's a good release from their job. If you lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, it's good to come here and get it out."
Richard Byrne, chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank Securities, also endorses the rise in popularity of the brutal sport, saying, "It's a great stress reliever."
One banker, John Cholish, even converted the top floor of his duplex apartment into a training gym.
Governor Paterson is currently lobbying to make MMA legal in New York, believing that it would add millions of dollars to the state budget.
And though he's not a banker, there's at least one New York teacher who'd probably agree.