[Manager Jang! Is this how you're going to handle things?]
Cho Yong-il was furiously shouting into his smartphone.
[Things suddenly went wrong. I'm shocked too.]
[Even if they're Chinese, they don't do business like this. You knew about this, didn't you? Anyway, our guy can't fight like this. Figure something out with the matchup!]
[Is this how you're going to react? Why are you so angry? It's not even a title fight.]
[Are you kidding me? Who changes opponents 4 days before a fight? Are you joking?]
[I heard this new guy is a high school senior. Just think of it as an experience. He's not going to continue in MMA anyway, right? We'll give him a good purse, so don't worry too much.]
[You bastard! You planned this, didn't you?]
[You were trying to promote the Chinese guy from the beginning, weren't you?]
[No, that's not true.]
[You son of a...]
Cho Yong-il started cursing but looked around. In the hotel room in Shanghai, China, Yu Jung-ak and coach Yoon Chang-seon were present. Cho Yong-il stopped himself from cursing further and hung up the phone. Yu Jung-ak and Yoon Chang-seon were looking at Cho Yong-il.
"What happened?"
"Looks like we've been had."
"Hah. That scumbag has done this a few times before, and he's doing it again."
Spirit FC had been criticized a few times in the past for unreasonable mismatches. Cases like pitting a fighter making their MMA debut against a veteran.
It was clearly a setup match that anyone could see.
"Jung-ak, pack your bags. Let's go back properly even if we're late. This isn't right. For a debut match opponent..."
"Isn't the opponent Liu Jinshi?"
"Yeah. This isn't right, Jung-ak. Let's pack up."
"Can we just go back like this? What about Oh Jung-ryong's next title shot?"
"You don't need to worry about that."
"I saw online that people are already saying it's an abuse of power. Won't there be problems for the team if we leave like this?"
"That's not for you to worry about. Let's pack up like the boss said."
Yu Jung-ak had arrived in China yesterday to acclimate. The weight cut was going smoothly. It didn't seem to be a problem to get down to 70 kg by weigh-in day without much trouble. He was even advised to slow down the weight cut because it was going too fast.
Yu Jung-ak's ability to control his condition was truly remarkable. He was losing weight without experiencing much stress.
Although he had definitely reduced his food intake, he wasn't starving himself. By limiting carbohydrates to under 50g, he was losing weight even while eating a decent amount.
Now he just needed to cut water weight to make weight. The weight cut was progressing without any issues. The analysis of the opponent was also going well.
The problem arose from external factors.
Spirit FC unilaterally announced at lunch today that the opponent had changed. And the new opponent was much more skilled than Yu Jung-ak's original opponent.
With an MMA record of 10 wins and 2 losses.
Liu Jinshi, a veteran fighter who was treated almost like a star in China.
He had trained in stand-up striking since childhood and was considered one of the top strikers in Asia.
Spirit FC was now telling a fighter making his MMA debut to face such an opponent. And they changed the opponent just 4 days before the fight.
It was clearly a mismatch to anyone who looked at it.
If Cho Yong-il had known the opponent was Liu Jinshi, he wouldn't have even brought it up. Yu Jung-ak was searching for and watching videos of Liu Jinshi.
"I've watched a few of this guy's fights... He barely has any ground game?"
"That's true. But he's different from the guy you were originally supposed to fight. His striking is much better, and above all, his takedown defense is excellent. He may not move well from bottom positions, but he's done wushu since he was young, so his takedown defense is really good."
That's why some Chinese fighters unexpectedly do well in MMA. They finish opponents on the feet based on their strong takedown defense.
Liu Jinshi was that type of fighter.
He did have 2 losses, but excluding one decision loss, he was on a 6-fight win streak. In short, he could be considered one of the top lightweight fighters in China.
They unilaterally matched such a fighter against someone making their debut. Cho Yong-il immediately realized this was the promoter playing games.
It was clear that Liu Jinshi was originally supposed to be in this event.
Spirit FC had planned to feed Liu Jinshi an easy opponent to build him up. In that process, they first put forward a mediocre opponent because fighters wouldn't agree to face Liu Jinshi directly. Then they switched the matchup later, using this trick.
Of course, they would tell the media that the original opponent got injured.
In reality, he probably wasn't injured. This kind of thing happened occasionally in the MMA world. Japanese promotions also made these kinds of unreasonable matchups often. Some fighters were sacrificed in the process, but stories of what happened behind the scenes rarely came out.
The power of promotions in the MMA world was very strong. In fact, Spirit FC had made a few matchups like this last year as well.
A female fighter making her MMA debut against a legendary Japanese female fighter.
The outcome was obvious to anyone, and the result never got overturned.
Nevertheless, rookie fighters would cry and reluctantly take these fights. There were issues with fight purses, but also if they refused this offer, they didn't know when Spirit FC would call them again. The lack of promotions to fight for.
That was the reality of the domestic MMA scene.
"If I beat this guy, my name recognition will skyrocket, right?"
"Hey, kid. This is a mismatch. This guy's only losses are by decision."
"How good is his striking?"
Surprisingly, Yu Jung-ak, who should have been the most angry as the person directly involved, was calm. Well, he had the mental fortitude to endure all that time secluded in the mountains for physical transformation, so there was no reason for his mentality to be shaken by something like this. Yu Jung-ak's truly fearsome strength wasn't his monstrous physical abilities, but this mentality.
A mentality that was hard to believe belonged to an 18-year-old.
While Yoon Chang-seon and Cho Yong-il were getting worked up, Yu Jung-ak was calmly searching for information on his opponent.
"He's strong. His punching power is hard to believe for a lightweight, he uses kicks well, and he's a difficult opponent to beat. He has good forward pressure. Once he closes the distance, expect a barrage of punches."
"Is his striking better than yours, uncle?"
"What did you say?"
"I asked if his striking is better than yours."
"Make proper comparisons. Why are you comparing me to him? He's a few levels below me."
"Then it seems doable. I can avoid your strikes well, uncle."
Yu Jung-ak was confident. When focused, he could avoid all of Cho Yong-il's strikes. Of course, that was when he concentrated solely on defense, but if the opponent's strikes weren't effective, he thought there was definitely a chance of winning.
"Kid, the styles are different. The distance management in boxing and MMA is different."
"When you sparred with me, you used an MMA style instead of your usual style. You mixed in a lot of kicks too."
"He'll mix in even more kicks. And a real fight is different."
"Let's do it. We can't just go back after coming all this way. But let's get a bigger purse from Spirit FC. Including the win bonus."
"Are you really confident?"
"I haven't properly tried wrestling yet."
"Coach Yoon, what do you think?"
"I want to stop him."
"In this case, stopping him would be the right thing to do, right?"
Cho Yong-il and Yoon Chang-seon exchanged glances.
"Even if you two leave, I'm still going to fight," Yu Jung-ak said calmly. Cho Yong-il shook his head.
"Sigh... this kid is starting to be stubborn. There's no talking him out of it."
Cho Yong-il knew how strong Yu Jung-ak's stubbornness was. When he said he wanted to do MMA, Cho Yong-hee fiercely opposed again, but in the end, she couldn't break Yu Jung-ak's stubbornness. He had threatened to go abroad again if they didn't allow it.
"Kid, Yong-hee is planning to come to the venue on the day of the fight."
"Why is mom coming?"
"Why do you think? Because she's worried about you."
"It would be better if she didn't come."
"Are you really confident?"
"Yes. Let's do it. I'm confident I can avoid strikes if they're not better than yours, uncle. Since they're playing dirty, let's play a little dirty too. They say it's called cicada style these days, right?"
"You're saying you want to stall?"
"With the sudden opponent change, that should be okay, right?"
"Sigh. Alright. I'll talk to Manager Jang. You just focus on cutting weight."
"Don't worry about that."
After Cho Yong-il and Yoon Chang-seon left, Yu Jung-ak sat quietly analyzing Liu Jinshi's fight videos.
Cho Yong-il met directly with Manager Jang Hyun-sung who was in China. Cho Yong-il demanded that instead of fighting, the fight purse be raised to 30 million won, which was champion-level pay. Of course, this was the amount Yu Jung-ak would receive if he won.
30 million won was an exceptionally large amount for a fighter making their MMA debut. Surprisingly, Jang Hyun-sung coolly accepted.
Yu Jung-ak's fight purse became 10 million won with a 30 million won win bonus. They rewrote the contract.
Normally, Yu Jung-ak as the fighter would be present to sign the contract, but Yu Jung-ak had delegated contract matters to Cho Yong-il.
"How did it go?"
"Base of 10 million, 30 million for a win. But it can't go to a decision. Seeing how easily this bastard agreed, I think he's planning to influence the judges."
"Isn't Spirit in charge of the judging?"
"Who knows. Anyway, don't think about going to a decision. If it goes to a decision, you need to completely dominate on the ground. Try not to get hit at all so they can't give points, make it a fight that anyone can see you're winning."
"I'm not planning on a decision. I'll win even if I have to fight dirty."
"Make sure you do."
The day of the weigh-in arrived. Yu Jung-ak and Liu Jinshi both passed the weigh-in smoothly. Looking at the smiling Liu Jinshi, Yu Jung-ak was certain.
His body had clearly been preparing for this fight for a long time. Otherwise, he couldn't have passed the weigh-in so easily after being brought in as a replacement just 4 days ago.
Yu Jung-ak faced Liu Jinshi with an expressionless face. Though they were in the same lightweight division, there was a clear difference in muscle definition.
Liu Jinshi's height was 178cm, not small for lightweight. But Yu Jung-ak was 187cm tall. Plus his reach was 196cm, which was quite long. It wasn't an unfair reach, but it was still very long.
Even seeing Yu Jung-ak's body, Liu Jinshi was smiling. Yu Jung-ak didn't care whether Liu Jinshi smiled or not.
Externally, there was a lot of noise about this match.
Even in domestic sports news, there was a lot of talk about it being a mismatch before the fight. There were even articles openly calling Yu Jung-ak a sacrificial lamb.
However, Yu Jung-ak didn't pay attention to such things and focused solely on the fight. After the weigh-in, Yu Jung-ak ate the food needed for rebounding very slowly.
He didn't gulp down water either.
The rebound was the most important time.
Cutting weight was important, but how much you recover after cutting was also important.
Yu Jung-ak's normal weight was 80kg.
If done properly, he could return to his original weight in just one day. The issue was how much energy he could store in that process.
Yu Jung-ak drank isotonic drinks that he usually didn't consume. He also ate carbohydrates freely. He ate food that was easy to digest almost all day.
Slowly, without overdoing it.
And he rested thoroughly without exercising.
The day of the fight arrived.
In the articles, there were many reactions calling Yu Jung-ak the emergence of a new handsome fighter based on his appearance. With his neatly groomed hair, Yu Jung-ak's appearance was good enough to be called a model.
He had good skin, taking after Cho Yong-hee. His eyes were large and clear, though not double-lidded. Overall, he had a sharp look.
Spirit FC began.
The undercard fights ended, and a few main card fights finished. And now the co-main event fight between Liu Jinshi and Yu Jung-ak was about to begin.
In reality, it was a ridiculous matchup. The very fact that they gave a co-main event match to a debut opponent was evidence that something was fishy.
Dirty marketing using Liu Jinshi's popularity in China.
In a way, Yu Jung-ak was the sacrificial lamb for that marketing.
However, Yu Jung-ak had no intention of being a sacrifice.
"Are you ready?"
Cho Yong-il asked, looking at Yu Jung-ak who was sitting and warming up.
"Watch closely."
Yu Jung-ak was still calm. Even in the pre-fight interview, Yu Jung-ak hadn't provoked much. Yu Jung-ak had shown a humble attitude, saying he would learn a lot.
"Coach Yoon, I'm counting on you."
"Yes."
"Your mom is here. Don't get hurt. There will be other opportunities. Understand?"
"I won't get hurt."
Yu Jung-ak stood up and headed to the arena. More spectators than expected had entered for this event. Yu Jung-ak's calm entrance music played.
Yu Jung-ak entered, and Liu Jinshi entered with flashy entrance music. He stepped into the octagon with a relaxed demeanor.
The in-house announcer's introduction began.
[He's here to catch a big fish! He is the future of Korean MMA! An 18-year-old fighter full of spirit! In the blue corner, Yu Jung-ak!]
[This fight is just the beginning. What I'm aiming for is the lightweight belt! The legend of Chinese martial arts! In the red corner, Liu Jinshi!]
A 3-round fight, 5 minutes each.
Yu Jung-ak's debut fight began.