At the end of the day I care more about the uncertainty of it which creates a certain tension and I enjoy the development that takes place during that combat. Plus the "winning," feeling, for me, is more along the lines of "Yes, my tactics payed off :D"

I'd be less inclined to really care about a fight if nothing was on the line. It's just like how making a bet is virtually meaningless unless there's actually something you're betting for. I don't know. I'm weird. I'm also bad at explaining this because it's not really a logical thing, not entirely at least.

EDIT: The best way I can think of to say it is this:

It's not about who wins or loses, it's about the quality of the fight and if the two people enjoy it. I happen to enjoy the fight more if I don't know who wins. Otherwise my throwing in so much effort into it doesn't really feel terribly meaningful.

More often than not whomever wins a fight, unless it's one of those things that is judged by a 3rd party (which I've seen work negatively too...blah. I've RPed too long xD), I'll commend their efforts, congratulate them, and say "Well fought," or a similar phrase *shrugs*

If that fails to properly explain, then "To each their own," I guess.