Adrian Peterson
Poker Night Fight Opponent Talks Viral Brawl
… ‘Definitely A Lot Of Blood’
Published June 25, 2025 12:30 AM PDT
TMZSports.com
The man who went toe-to-toe with Adrian Peterson at a poker game last month tells TMZ Sports it was actually the NFL legend’s mouth that caused the fists to fly.
Joe “Baby Joe” Castaneda said on Tuesday his May 27 brawl with A.P. at a social club in Houston, Texas all went down because the future Hall of Famer hurled an insult at one of his buddies.
TMZSports.com
Castaneda — a professional poker player — couldn’t recall exactly what quip Peterson fired off … but he said after he stood up for his pal, “that’s when the melee kind of broke out.”
In video we obtained, you can see Peterson and Castaneda rocked each other with a flurry punches for several seconds … all right near where people were playing cards.
The footage cut out before the two were formally separated — but Castaneda tells us once they were pulled apart, he had some damage on his face.
“My nose was leaking really bad,” he said. “It was definitely a lot of blood. It was kind of gory.”
Somehow, he says he and Peterson, 40, were able to bury the hatchet after the dust settled … and he has zero plans to go to cops or to file a lawsuit.
The 47-year-old also told us he and the ex-Vikings running back have been playing together for years … and he’s looking forward to getting back on the felt with him some time soon.
“It was a fight — we got it out of our system,” Castaneda said. “And as soon as I get back from Vegas, we should be cool playing poker again.”
