UFC debut
[Yuito's POV]
I was in the private room assigned to me by the UFC and I was busy wrapping my own hands with a bandage.
The room was silent and the lights were dim, making the whole place take a rather depressing and ominous mood as I sat by my lonesome self in front of the TV screen which was showing the fight live.
I was deliberately slow as I wrapped my hands. I had many thoughts running in my mind ranging from my upcoming fight and the reaction of the people till now.
The reaction the people had to me was diverse but there were more people who hated me and wanted to see me fall than those who supported me.
Maybe it was jealousy, maybe it was because of my arrogance, or maybe it was just the fact that I was rising too soon too fast.
They call me a kid who did not know the vastness of the sky, not a real fighter, MacGregor wannabe, naive, delusional, etc.
The only ones who truly supported me were my supporters from my own country and the girls on the internet who were already simping too hard for me and didn't care about the UFC in general.
But whatever their opinion or thoughts were, I was going to change everything tonight. After my fight, I would prove that all the talk I did on my social media and the press was not just talk.
I felt the door of my room opening and a staff of the UFC came in.
"It's time." He said and I responded by nodding my head, just in time to finish my hand wrap.
..
{Good luck}
..
I made my way to the arena amongst the different staff, workers, and cameramen. I walked with a measured pace through the hallway and when I was close to entering the arena, a cameraman walked in front of me and took a video.
I did not entertain the camera and with a focused face, I continued walking. I wouldn't say that I was nervous or scared but it was always unnerving to fight with a huge audience.
I was stopped at the entrance where I waited for the announcer to call out my name. And when he did, I walked out.
There was a beat of silence. The arena got silent, the lights went out.
Then the moment I walked out, there was a flashing of light that directly fell on me. The silence was broken by loud rock music that echoed through the arena. But that music was soon eclipsed by the screams and cries of the audience.
I looked around at the arena and laughed at myself. And I thought there were a lot of audiences in my fight against Munseoung Kim.
The ocean of people hollered in excitement and right in the middle was a cage, an octagon that was to be my battlefield.
I was only wearing my boxer and other fighting equipment as I approached the octagon. As I got closer and closer to the octagon, my blood grew excited and I felt my previous nervousness leave my body.
It was like Mike Tyson said, the closer I got to the octagon the more confidence I got.
Because the crowd, the expectations I put upon myself, my family, and my fears. All of them faded away and I was confronted with the fact that I was only required to do what I was best at.
That is to fight.
There was no reason to worry, and no reason to care about my image. I was going to fight, something I dedicated my life to, something I have been training to do for a long time.
All the people, the flare, and the promotion often cloud that fact and give the illusion that it was more than just simply fighting when it was not.
I was stopped before entering the cage where the doctors and referees checked my condition, my gloves, my gum shield etc.
Then I was allowed to enter the cage.
The cage was many times brighter than the arena and it felt like I entered another dimension. Then I went to my corner and stretched myself while I focused on my opponent standing opposite to me.
The announcer came at the middle of the octagon and gave an introduction to both of the fighters.
"With a record of 27 fights, 22 wins and 5 losses. With 18 of those won by knockouts. Having fought championship fights before and even getting a win against Nate Diaz. His left leg is said to be so fast and quick that it leaves his opponent stunned, like a statue. Introducing, fighting from South Korea!!! The Stunt gun, Dong Hyun Kim!!"
The audience applauded and I could see an army of his Korean fans amongst the mass.
"The rising star that hail from the land of the rising sun! He is looking to make his debut in the UFC and carve his own legacy in the Hall of fame!! A new talent that hoped to test his skills amongst the best of the best. Introducing, the Prodigy!!, the Pirnce Charming!!, Fujita Yuito!!!"
The introductions were done and slowly, the coaches, the doctors, and even the announcer himself left the octagon.
Now only Dong Hyun Kim and the referee were with me in the octagon. The referee called us in the middle and told us the rules of the match briefly again before he made us touch gloves.
We returned to our corner and that's when I heard the sound I had been waiting for.
*Ting!!*
The love I had for the bell that started the match rivaled my love for the end of the school bell.
I walked towards my opponent and he did the same. His eyes moved around my body like a hawk and analyzed my body language.
He was cautious.
I laughed at him.
"Hahaha! What? Worried about my plan for the fight? Wary of my strategy? Didn't I already tell you my plan before?" I taunted and while I was talking, a kick came at me.
It was fast.
But not as fast as I expected of him. It could be a distraction.
He planted his leg on the canvas and pivoted to turn that roundhouse kick into a backkick. I simply ducked under the kick.
He was quick to change his posture and took two steps away from me, he aimed for a leg kick but I pulled my leg up to dodge.
In a fluid movement that shocked me, his stance turned into one of a boxing stance and he threw a combination at me. But I still dodged them.
His movements were fluid and his style of fighting embodied exactly what mixed martial arts was supposed to be.
His legs whipped at me, his arms swung at me, and his whole body shot towards me like a canon to attempt a takedown.
Behind every one of his attacks, you could see the shadow of what those attacks once were.
A kick that I blocked with my forearm had the mirage of a thousand kicks, signifying how many times he had executed the same kick before.
His punches were explosive and without flaw, hinting at the hundreds of thousands of times he practiced those same punches before.
But with all the experience his attacks held, they lacked power and vigor.
It was then that I was confronted with the sad truth that Dong Hyun Kim was far past his prime.
His attacks lacked resolve, which was ironic as that was what he lectured me about. His attacks lacked the hunger for victory and the thirst for achievement
They no longer strive to knock down an opponent but are simply executed to perfection.
Like a perfect doll without a soul, a perfect melody played by an a computer, a poem written for the sake of it.
His attacks were hopeless.
I stayed truthful to my words and only dodged and blocked his attacks throughout the first round but I was not as excited as I should be.
For his attacks had already given up. He was just fighting for the sake of it, trying to end his career on a good note and protect his dignity. There was no will anymore.
The thing in front of me was just a shell of a fighter. A fighter whose prime I could only imagine through the attacks that cradle no resolve.
He should be at least as strong as Gun in his prime, but now he was nothing but a hollow copy of his former glory.
Maybe it was my fault for expecting more than this.
I locked eyes with him as his attacks brushed past my skin but never managed to actually land a hit.
"Are you shitting me, old man? You are pathetic." I said while ducking under a fast left kick aimed at my head.
"Was it all a lie? All that resolve and determination crap?" I asked and he smiled.
"Hahahaha, it's all business kid. And because of it, I am going to end my career with some good money in my pocket. Thank you."
I gritted my teeth, was this it? Was this what I was so excited about?
Was this the UFC?
I could no longer play along with this fight. I feel like a clown.
A fight was supposed to be two people, doing everything they could to win. Fighting tooth and nail to defeat the other.
But this was not a fight. It was simply a performance that we do to entertain the crowd, to earn fame and money.
Like clowns.
It had no fire. It had no heart.
It was disgusting.
"Damn it!!" I screamed and couldn't allow myself to continue this any longer.
[Tawekwondo : Grandmaster]
I leaped in the air and completed two whole spins to deliver a 720-degree kick right at his head.
The annoying part was that he did not even try to dodge it. He did not even resist or try to continue the fight.
My kick hit him right at his head and he was knocked out. His limp body fell on the canvas and the referee was quick to end the fight.
The crowd erupted in cheers as from the outside perspective, it was a wonderful fight where I proved my words. It looked straight out of a movie how I ended the match.
Almost like I could see in the future, I dodged all of his attacks and did not fight back. And when I did, I ended the match with one attack.
How amazing was that?
What else could a fighter hope for in his debut match?
I won. In the best and most remarkable way, one could imagine.
But as I looked at my opponent who lay on the canvas, I never felt more empty.
They said I won the match.
.
.
Indeed I won the show.
But I did not win the fight.
.
.
.
Because there was no fight.
[Sexy image for no reason]
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Author : A surprising turn of event. Instead of an awesome fight, Yuito got a disappointment.
Is UFC really about martial arts or was it a business?
.
.
Read advanced chapters on my patreon to find out.