Drifting off topic a bit -
Many one on one "street fights" are more of a social experience and could be diffused or avoided if that was the absolute priority.
Is different if one is a bouncer or another step - LE where you not only have to engage if they don't comply, but have to take control of someone. Always best to have help!
Honestly I'm most concerned with knife (or improvised pointy object) and/or multiples, and surviving the initial 1/2 to 1 second. The attacker's effective skill level requirement goes way down under these conditions.
I've never faced a knife in anger, but a buddy of mine was actually attacked by a man using pepperspray and then pursued with large knife, and this while he was walking with his GF. Could barely see but managed to get up the steps on a porch and upend furniture to create a pocket, made a bunch of noise and fended the critter off with a chair for a few seconds before the perp took off due to the commotion. This was right around the corner from my apt and he made it to my place immediately after - I helped him detox.
I came across this piece from Scott Babb of Libre fighting systems relating to his pressure testing vs what his research indicated was a typical determined knife attack. I cut off the link as there is some brief, grainy footage of an actual encounter, but most is just observations and some footage of the initial testing.
The follow up was never released but as I understand the best solution they arrived at was some form of stop hit administered on the attacking arm/shoulder with intent to escape or transition to the head/neck if not an option. The lead/intercepting arm doesn't fare well, so time is of the essence.
His solution mirror what I was introduced to in class and used in sparring - off the line
toward the attacker's knife hand (away from their free hand - very important as once they gain an attachment the survival rate plummets) and stop hit the bicep - transition as possible. Your interference hand is probably going to be cut. While the jaw is often no further than the bicep/upper arm, it is more important to stop the attacker's rhythm and initiative first and is often a far easier target to land on - a strike to the head that doesn't land solidly = more wounds = big gamble.
Some quotes from the project, is worth the 7 minutes to check it out if one has any interest or concern about this sort of thing:
"Every five seconds the defender was stabbed five to seven times..."
"every time it ended up in a grappling situation on the ground, the defender died"
"no appreciable difference in skill levels, system, experience, in the failure or success rate." (using technique the subjects had already been taught).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Zc6zPdXJyM