Sentence:  When the dance was done there was the cock-fight, or rather a century of cock-fights, to be reckoned with. For two hundred of these luckless creatures <WSD>'gladiatored</WSD>' bravely, while an appreciative audience held matting up to its chin to keep from being bespattered with blood. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To fight as entertainment for others.