"It's your fighter's turn, good luck!" An administrator approached where Santiago was sitting and informed him about the upcoming fight.
Santiago nodded and said, "All right, kid, show me that brutality you've been hiding since you were a child, and maybe both of us can get what we want."
Facing the gaze of many competitors who were by his side, Dash shook his head and said, "There won't be any problem; I'll take care of it in a striking way."
"Remember, never celebrate too early... Some fighters use drugs; simple punches may not be effective against those types of fighters."
As he walked towards arena number two of the three active ones being prepared, the roars of the crowd felt uncomfortable. Dash looked at his opponent, who wore shorts similar to boxing but no shirt. Compared to his own Kung Fu uniform, Dash was much more eye-catching.
There's no way a Kung Fu fighter can stand out in special competitions simply because many haven't seen them fight, and it is for that simple reason that many are unaware of their skills.
Saelim Somchai looked at Dash and smiled while clenching his fists. The referee, who was only there to ensure that neither of the two died, waited for the order to start the fight.
"I thought only the Chinese learned that Kung Fu stuff, are you from some mountain?" Saelim Somchai coldly mocked Dash's attire while hopping lightly on the ground.
After hearing those words, Dash sighed quietly, letting go of those inconvenient insults. Taunts, insults, or disdain didn't affect him at all; everything would be resolved in a fight, so there was nothing to disturb his mind.
"Do you really think you'll walk away from this fight?"
The referee, who had received the signal, stepped forward and said, "The fight doesn't end until one of you surrenders. The fight won't end until one of you is unconscious or can't continue with the match. Blood doesn't matter; injuries don't matter; the only thing that matters is winning."
Dash smiled as he raised the palms of his hands in a standard, quite basic but aggressive fighting position.
At this moment, although there were fighters from different martial arts, few Chinese fighters had passed the preliminaries. Seeing one who practiced Kung Fu caught the attention of many who had not faced fighters using these martial arts.
The other contestants in the arena who had already fought and won watched Dash's fight with great interest.
Under the attentive gaze of the crowd, Saelim Somchai felt elated to be able to hit Dash and possibly get a good sponsor who could bet on him.
Dash understood the thoughts of that boy; obviously, everyone is here for more than just money, but he was a bit different in this respect. Besides money, what he wanted to know was how far his current limit was.
It had been a long time since he got injured, so right now, he wanted to fight without holding back. Looking at Saelim Somchai, he knew that this was a perfect example to start with.
"Both sides to your positions; let's begin in ten seconds." After giving the green light for the fight, the referee extended his hands to both corners so that the two fighters had no advantage.
As the referee's words dissipated, Saelim Somchai's facial expression instantly turned brutal. Raising his fists, he looked threateningly at Dash, who stood staring at him.
"Mixed martial arts have gained much fame in recent times, leaving behind Karate, which doesn't have much disadvantage, but many have forgotten that Kung Fu is even more complex..."
"Now!"
However, just as some people who were paying attention to Saelim Somchai's incredible physique all turned their attention to Dash, who had not been intimidated despite his age limit to enter this type of fight.
"Ready? Fight!"
Slap!
As soon as the fight started, Dash opened the combat with a high kick that was blocked by Saelim Somchai's arm. But at that very moment, Dash regained his distance with a left kick that effectively hit his approaching opponent's left shoulder.
Taking the distance again to maintain control of the fight, Dash knew perfectly well that mixed martial arts encompassed both punches, kicks, grabs, and strangulation. Therefore, he must not allow himself to be taken down, even though he handles Jiu-Jitsu very well.
When he saw that Saelim Somchai was rushing towards him quickly, Dash knew that this fighter's intention was to dominate the fight on the ground, and that was not convenient.
While facing Dash's first reaction, Saelim Somchai's expression also became serious. Therefore, he immediately changed his fighting style to a closed one, and after recovering, he moved forward.
Thud!
Knowing what to do, Dash stretched out his hands and began to attack with aggressive blows to his opponent's nerves without any mercy. Squeezing his hands tightly, each of Dash's blows was like hammers impacting Saelim Somchai's flesh, and he immediately began to feel pain and numbness.
In a quick exchange of blows, Dash managed to graze the opponent, who, seeing that his vision was turning red, began to step back while touching his forehead that had started bleeding.
"You can surrender now; if I hit that area again, your eye will be in danger..." Dash said as he wiped away the blood that had splattered on him.
Saelim Somchai felt humiliated; he knew that now, injured, the chances of moving forward in this tournament had decreased. So, from this point on, he would do everything possible to not let Dash go unscathed.
Slap! Slap!
At that moment, Saelim Somchai's kicks headed towards Dash like a whip, and powerful blows resounded throughout the arena. The two exchanged more blows at an increasingly faster pace, but everyone could see that Dash was slowly finishing off his opponent.
Santiago, who was watching closely from a distance, grinned sinisterly when he saw that everyone had focused on Dash's fight and murmured, "We got them; it's time for you to finish the fight!"