Two Madison men were injured at a University Avenue bar Tuesday when suspects began taunting the men and allegedly assaulted them.

Brandon Green, 23, and Mathew Prater, 30, both of Madison, approached the victims at Vintage Bar at 12:15 a.m. and allegedly harassed them, a Madison Police Department report said.

The first victim was punched in the back of the head, and when the second victim tried to tell the suspect that his friends did not want trouble, he was also punched, the report said.

A second suspect approached the scene and allegedly attacked the second victim. The man’s head was cracked against a wall and he endured a severe cut to his temple that bled profusely, the report said.

When the fight escalated, the bar’s bouncers intervened and held the suspects until the police arrived, MPD spokesperson Joel DeSpain said.

DeSpain said the victims acted properly in defending themselves during the fight.

“I think the people who were the victims here did the right thing by trying to stay away from these suspects,” DeSpain said.

He said the second suspect may have originally been trying to stop his friend from fighting, but eventually was brought into the incident. DeSpain also said it appeared that the second suspect originally entered the fight to try to pull the first suspect out, but actually ended up causing more harm.

The suspects told police investigators that the victims had attacked them prior to the incident, and the suspects were the ones acting in self defense, the report said.

DeSpain said this fight was somewhat out of place because bar fights in the city most normally occur Thursday through Saturday nights. He said alcohol fueled violence is not uncommon on any given night.

According to the report, both suspects have previous battery convictions, with at least one incident taking place during a separate bar fight.

A Vintage manager declined to comment.