Watch: The brutal blow to wife that cost NFL player R400m contract

Baltimore Ravens football player Ray Rice was dropped from his R400 million contract after video footage of him savagely punching his then-fiancee hit the internet recently.

Rice was also booted from the National Football League after the organisation released a statement saying he had been indefinitely suspended.

According to The Guardian, This comes after a video, released by gossip site, TMZ of him punching his then-fiancee, Janay, in an elevator surfaced. In the footage, Rice appears to slap his fiancee and as she rushes toward him, he knocks her out, stone cold.

 In May, footage of the pair fighting outside the elevator emerged, in it, Janay swings at Rice who ignores her at first.

Later, he is seen dragging her seemingly lifeless body outside of the elevator. At that point, it was unknown what had caused Janay to become unconscious and Rice issued an apology at a press conference accompanied by her. She went onto to marry Rice. The two have a daughter together.