brawler

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

brawler
    n 1: a fighter (especially one who participates in brawls)

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Brawler \Brawl"er\, n.
   One that brawls; wrangler.
   [1913 Webster]

   {Common brawler} (Law), one who disturbs a neighborhood by
      brawling (and is therefore indictable at common law as a
      nuisance). --Wharton.
      [1913 Webster]

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

93 Moby Thesaurus words for "brawler":
      agitator, battler, belligerent, belted knight, bickerer,
      bitter-ender, blade, bravo, bully, bullyboy, combatant, competitor,
      contender, contestant, defendant, diehard, disputant, dissentient,
      dissident, duelist, enforcer, extremist, fencer, feuder, fighter,
      fighting cock, foilsman, frondeur, gamecock, gladiator, goon,
      gorilla, hatchet man, hood, hoodlum, hooligan, insubordinate,
      insurgent, insurrectionary, insurrectionist, insurrecto,
      intransigent, irreconcilable, jouster, knight, last-ditcher,
      litigant, malcontent, maverick, militant, mutineer, naysayer,
      negativist, nonconformist, noncooperator, objector, obstructionist,
      obstructive, opposer, oppositionist, plaintiff, plug-ugly,
      protester, quarreler, rebel, resister, revolter, revolutionary,
      revolutionist, rioter, rival, rough, rowdy, ruffian, sabreur,
      scrapper, scuffler, squabbler, strong arm, strong-arm man,
      strong-armer, struggler, subversive, swashbuckler, sword,
      swordplayer, swordsman, thug, tilter, tough, traitor, tussler,
      wrangler