Adrian Peterson (Photo Via Imagn Images and TMZ)
A friendly poker night in Houston turned into a headline-making slugfest last month, and now the man who traded punches with NFL legend Adrian Peterson is breaking down exactly what led to the chaos.

Joe “Baby Joe” Castaneda, a well-known face at high-stakes poker tables, says the now-viral brawl at a private social club on May 27 started not over cards or cash, but words. Specifically, words Peterson allegedly directed at one of Castaneda’s friends.

“It was something he said that crossed the line,” Castaneda told TMZ Sports on Tuesday. “Once I stood up for my buddy, that’s when the melee kind of broke out.”

Blood, Bruises, And A Quick Break

Adrian Peterson

Video from the altercation shows Castaneda and Peterson exchanging a rapid series of punches in the middle of the card room, startling nearby players. The footage cuts out before anyone could break it up, but the damage was already done.

“My nose was leaking really bad,” Castaneda said. “There was definitely a lot of blood. It was kind of gory.”

Despite the graphic aftermath, the 47-year-old poker pro said things cooled off surprisingly fast. Once they separated and had time to breathe, both men agreed to let it go. “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.”

Castaneda added that he and Peterson, 40, have been playing cards together for years. He made it clear there’s no bad blood moving forward. No police reports. No lawsuits. Just two guys who let emotions boil over at the wrong moment.

“We’ve been in the same rooms plenty of times,” he said. “This time, it got heated. But that’s it. We move on.”

Peterson, a future Hall of Famer known for his bruising running style during his NFL days, hasn’t commented publicly on the incident. But the fact that both men are open to sharing a poker table again suggests that this fight may go down as nothing more than an infamous night in a long-running rivalry.

Until then, Castaneda’s focused on his next step, Las Vegas. And after that? Possibly another poker night with Peterson, minus the fists.