Cutman

A cutman is a person responsible for preventing and treating physical damage to a fighter during the breaks between rounds of a full contact match such as a boxing, kickboxing or a mixed martial arts bout.

Unlike boxing, cutmen for mixed martial arts events are generally provided by the promotion, rather than the fighter's corner.

This is to prevent allegations of "greasing" (applying petroleum jelly to areas other than the forehead, which provides an unfair advantage in grappling situations).

Cutmen should not be confused with the fight physician, an official who monitors the health of the fighters and whose task is closer to that of a neutral referee.

Before the fight, cutmen will usually put petroleum jelly on the most likely areas of impact, especially the fighter's face, making the skin more elastic and slippery, and hence less likely to tear.

Swelling is usually associated with facial hematomas (bruises — localized bleeding outside of blood vessels), and is traditionally reduced by applying firm pressure with a chilled enswell or an ice bag on top of the area of trauma.

[3] Such treatment will not move the hematoma, and may disrupt the microscopic blood vessels under the skin, thus causing an increase in bleeding and enlargement of the swelled area.