As the evening wore on, the time came for me to fight. Coach was warming me up with pads, and I was warm, my blood pumping in my heart. It was time to fight.
“And nowwwww, ladies and gentlemen, the moment we've all be waiting for. Our reigning champion, the only and only, Jet!”
The crowd went ballistic, and I headed down the aisle towards the cage. I went down trotting, and felt the crowd going nuts around me as I made my way. I hopped into the cage and stretched out my arms, bouncing around the cage, keeping myself warm and ready
There were more fans of mine than Ford’s at the fight that night. The crowd was screaming in a chant, but I was not my usual cocky self that evening. I didn’t break into a smile, and I didn’t wave at my fans.
The presenter called out for my opponent. “And nowwww, ladies and gentlemen, the man that you have all been waiting for. Watch out for Ford!”
I watched Ford as he walked out and headed down toward the ring. He walked toward me, toward his fate. I was going to destroy him, and move on to the finales. Ford was a strong fighter. He had plenty of wins on his record, but I refused to fear any of them. The moment I started to do that, I would be doomed.
I stood in my corner, and my lack of a cocky response to Ford’s bravado was showing as he headed to the ring and jumped in.
Ford came into the cage and removed his black robe, his body looking no less fit than mine. Ford's eyes fell instantly on mine, and a smile that could only be described as evil spread across his lips; a smile that was already victorious. Why was that guy so happy? Feeling victorious already?
We touched gloves in the middle of the cage and headed to our corners. The bell rang as we both went to the center of the cage and went toe-to-toe. Ford landed a massive punch to my ribs, and then quickly slammed my jaw back with an awful one-two punch. The sickening sound of flesh and bone meeting caused the crowd to go mad. I could hear my corner screaming for me to focus and keep my hands up. I held my ground, but shuddered as I recovered, and continued going after Ford. As I went in again, I made sure to protect my head against another onslaught. In every fight I have had, I never kept my guard down low. It would be suicide for any fighter to do so, never mind an experienced fighter like me.
I got it in on the next one, however, as I went in and rammed a punch into Ford's gut. Then I followed it with an uppercut to the jaw that Ford took far too easily. He straightened up right away and glared at me, almost daring me to come at him again.
The next three punches took Ford in the body again; two in the chest and one in the rib cage, and he had yet to hit me again. I was taking things a step at a time, and I knew if I kept things the way they were going right now, that I could win the fight. I was not sure if Ford's rib cage could withstand any more blows, but I threw them in quickly, in a three-punch combination, hammering him with body shots. I heard the wind come out of him as he staggered backwards. He wasn't getting any punching into me at all. He came at me and lunged, trying to take me to the ground. He pushed me into the side of the cage, but I held my ground. If he wanted me down there, I was going to avoid it at all costs.
Ford swung out with his left hand and landed a good one to my jaw, then landed a straight punch that brought me right to my knees. The crowd was going wild, screaming profanities into the cage. They were not happy with what was happening to their champ.
“Booo! Boooo! Kill him, Jet! Fight back!”
When I stood again, the fight continued in an endless gray world of kicking and punching. I wasn't sure how Ford's body was withstanding the damage I was doing to it. Every time he was punched, he kept coming. My corner was going nuts, and I knew that I had to seriously focus, or I was going to lose everything. Blood was pouring from both of us, and I worried that I was too injured?that it would affect my second round, if we even got that far.
After a serious round of punches to Ford's abs, he dropped to his knees. But he wasn’t ready to give up yet, and I wondered why he didn’t just throw in the towel. Panting for breath, my face dripping with blood, I delighted my fans by jumping back and waiting for Ford to get back up. When he did, I sent out a spinning back kick, and landed it right to Ford's head.
The crowd was losing themselves in that fight. People were screaming, “Ford, get up and fight. Fight him! Fight him!”
When Ford reset and came back in, he landed a punch that took the breath right out of me. I pounded his body and then took a shot to the head, but I reset immediately. I sent out a roundhouse kick, and I heard the crack. Ford fell face down on the floor.
Blood oozed from my body, dripping onto the canvas floor of the ring. I could feel my face swelling, and I was panting for breath. I was sure Ford was down for the count, but then I watched as he planted one shaking hand on the ground, and then the other. The room had grown completely silent as they watched Ford try to push himself back up. I couldn’t understand why he just didn’t stay down; he was one tough mother.
Ford pushed himself up, and spit more blood on the ground. He used his arms to get back up on his feet, only to catch a strong left hook to his temple that swung his head around. My corner was going crazy; they were loving every minute of the fight. This was probably one of the most exciting fights anyone had seen all year.
At this point Ford was hurting pretty badly. The ref went in immediately and called the fight done. It didn't matter anymore how much Ford wanted to continue the battle?the fight was called.
Silence fell over the entire stadium as everyone waited in agony to see what happened next. The medics were in attending to Ford, and as soon as they were sure that he would be fine until they could take him to the hospital, he was brought to the middle for the judges to call the fight.
The crowd started cheering as the announcer spoke.
“Our victor for the night is Jet! The conference semifinals belt goes, ladies and gentlemen, to Jet!”
My corner came in, and I practically fell into the arms of my coach as they helped me out of the cage. I would go back to the locker room and get checked by the medic as well. It had been one hell of a fight. I couldn't even imagine fighting again anytime soon. I would need to heal. As I made my way back to the lockers, I heard the crowd chanting my name. They were thrilled that I had won, but I certainly took one hell of a beating for it. I wondered if Natalie would be up for giving me another massage, ‘cause I surely could use one, that was certain. I had considered inviting her to the fight, as I thought she would really enj
oy it. I was glad I didn't, however. She would have found it upsetting that I took the beating I did, despite the fact that I ended up winning.
We went into the locker area and sat down on the bench while the medic looked me over. I had no broken bones and no real damage. But my body was already bruising, and I would be incredibly sore for at least a few days. Maybe weeks. I had a cut above my eye, which was the cause of the blood that kept pouring from my head.
I would have to go to the hospital to get my eye stitched up. It would need to heal before I could fight again, or it would become a weakness. I hated weaknesses, and didn't want to give my opponents anything to go on if I didn't have to.
Coach helped me pack up my things, and we left the gymnasium with my belt around my shoulders. We were headed to the hospital, where I would be stitched up, and could then return home to spend the night in an ice bath to bring down some of the swelling that was occurring all over my body.
Chapter Seven
Natalie