Once, when my ex-girlfriend was in a catfight, it was totally silent with hair pulling and ripping cloths, etc.
I found my "X" on the ground with her "friend" sitting on her and beating her up pretty bad. I broke up the fight (my bad).
Then they started arguing again... then they started fighting again. Every time they would start fighting, they were both silent; I think because they were using all of their physical energy to fight. Each time they would fight, my "X" would lose, and her "friend" would stand up over her and then they'd start arguing again... then they'd start fighting again, each time going silent as they were fighting.
I didn't break it up the second, third or forth time.
Finally, my "X" was totally beaten to a limp piece of meat, unable to get up or even speak. i had to carry her back to my apartment, but she had started the fight, so it was her own fault...