You hit the nail on the head.
The “if you’re not cheating you’re not trying” in a game of trying to kill each other is a hilarious take on morality.
There is an implicit understanding getting in prize fight with rules and regulations that you won’t break them, otherwise there is nothing to truly prevent life altering attacks - eye gouges/bites/spine strikes/back of the head shots/etc.
Sure they can DQ you, but your opponent can be crippled for life. But I guess “you’re just not trying then” so everything is ok still huh?
But somehow he’ll likely carve out unique caveats for glove grabs, groin strikes, eye pokes, and more minor fouls, even if they lead to devastating finishes…interesting….
He essentially wants to import street fighting mindset into prize fighting spectacle, because his morality dictates as such.
Which is fine, but just acknowledge that you’re the one that doesn’t care about honor/justice/morality, since clearly most fighters do or they would be egregiously cheating all the time instead of a few doing it some of the time.