Martial Arts Livestreaming
Chapter 247 - 224 Grass Hugging Rabbit

Chapter 247: Chapter 224 Grass Hugging Rabbit

Wu Li turned his head to look at Charles, his tone indifferent, "Disagree?"

Charles sneered, "The so-called Hua Country’s Kung Fu that you speak of—I’ve seen plenty before, and it certainly isn’t deserving of my respect."

Wu Li nodded, "Then let’s do this."

The translator gave Wu Li a glance and asked quietly, "Does that mean you want to challenge him?"

Wu Li shook his head, "No, I mean to beat him up."

The translator understood and turned to Charles, "If you disagree, then let’s have a fight."

There was some unrest in the crowd, Wu Li and Charles had had a grudge since the first day of the tryouts, and they had come to blows before but had been stopped. Was this now going to be a final showdown before the end?

Charles, of course, would not back down. He stepped forward and stared directly at Wu Li, "Good, I’ve been wanting to beat you up for a while."

"No way!" Danny shouted loudly from the side.

In TUF Ultimate Fighting, very often the main event isn’t between the competitors, but rather a match between the two coaches.

For the sake of ratings, sometimes the organizers would deliberately create conflicts between the two coaches and then have them resolve their grudges through a match at the end.

Since these are star coaches, their popularity, strength, and UFC ranking are all fairly compatible, having a match shouldn’t be a problem.

But the problem now is that Wu Li is just a fighter who has recently signed with the UFC, and according to UFC regulations, he technically isn’t qualified to fight Charles.

The UFC, as a mature commercial alliance, has a complex operational mechanism.

First, the officials will list a main fighter roster for the event, from which they arrange the main, co-main, and preliminary event fighters.

Then, the UFC will provide the decided main fighter with a list of potential opponents in their weight class, and the fighter’s team will choose an appropriate opponent to apply for based on their current state and technical characteristics. The officials also evaluate how exciting the match would be; if they deem it appropriate, the fighter will be approached for confirmation, and if both parties agree, the match is essentially set.

So audiences often see some fighters in pre-fight promos saying they want to fight so-and-so, while others say they were assigned a match by the event organizers—there is clearly a hierarchy among competitors.

Obviously, given Wu Li’s current fame and record in the UFC, he couldn’t possibly be the main fighter; he could only be the one being chosen by others.

In the UFC, the higher your ranking and popularity, the more say you have.

For some fringe fighters without contractually guaranteed fights, the UFC is not short of young talents with outstanding records. Basically, they have to fight whoever the officials set them up with; they don’t have the right to refuse. Missing such an opportunity, they wouldn’t know when they could next step onto this highest-level fighting stage. So even if they knew the opponent completely outclassed them, they would still grit their teeth and fight.

However, some fighters with higher rankings and popularity, even if the officials arranged a match, can refuse.

Wu Li and Charles’ situation was a bit different; it was as if Charles had actively chosen Wu Li, and Wu Li was not at all afraid. Both were willing to have a fight, but the problem was their current fame and records were extremely mismatched, and the officials would certainly not agree to this fight.

Danny knew some of the higher-ups’ plans for Wu Li. Given Wu Li’s immense popularity in Hua Country, the UFC officials wanted to capitalize on this to break into the Hua Country market. They planned to build Wu Li up step by step, developing him into a new star of the UFC.

Wu Li signed a fight contract with UFC for five fights, which the UFC officials had already arranged. Given Wu Li’s abilities, he should be able to win them all. By then, Wu Li would have the record, the popularity, and the topicality to attract more Hua Country viewers to follow the UFC.

But if Wu Li’s first match was against Charles, it would disrupt the officials’ plans. Regardless of who lost or won, it would be a loss for the UFC.

If Wu Li lost his first match, it would not be favorable for the officials to promote him afterward; if Charles lost to Wu Li now, in the eyes of the American audience, it was like losing to a nobody, which would be a substantial loss to his own popularity. Charles was also a popular fighter that the UFC had painstakingly built up, and they certainly wouldn’t be happy to just give him away to Wu Li as a stepping stone.

Once Wu Li’s record and popularity had increased, fighting Charles would be acceptable regardless of the outcome. Moreover, it would be more attractive to audiences, and that was the most beneficial choice for the UFC officials. So now, Danny directly stepped in to say no because he knew the officials would never agree to a match between them at this time.

"Wu, you’ve just entered the UFC. You might get a chance to fight Charles, but definitely not now," Danny turned his head to Wu Li and said.

He then looked at Charles, "Charles, don’t be impulsive. Even if you agree to this fight, your team won’t."

Every UFC fighter has a team behind them, including an agent, coaches, a nutritionist—they form a community of shared interest. So Danny reminded Charles to consider his team before making a decision.

"It’s really boring. Thought we’d get to see them fight."

"With Wu Li’s popularity in Hua Country, or even in the whole of Southeast Asia, how is he not qualified to fight Charles?"

"The problem is that Wu Li actually doesn’t have much of a record in the ring, and he isn’t popular in the United States either. UFC fights actually prioritize popularity and hype first, then the fighters’ abilities, so the officials most likely won’t agree to this fight."

"Sigh, when can we handle that guy?"

"It won’t be long. With Wu Li’s ability, his ranking will go up quickly."

...

The live audience had thought they would witness a great battle and were somewhat disappointed when it was stopped.

But in reality, Wu Li never disappointed anyone.

"Sparring without a match is always an option, right?" Wu Li suddenly spoke up.

Danny frowned, "Wu, you..."

Wu Li cut him off, looking at Charles, "Aren’t you just scornful of what I just said? Why don’t you try it yourself, charge at me with a diving takedown, see if you can bring me down."

"Sure!"

Charles eagerly agreed and then looked at Danny, "Hey, Danny, it’s just a trial with him, not a match. With so many of you around, you can separate us at any time. That works, doesn’t it?"

Danny remained silent. He saw the violent emotion in Charles’s eyes and worried that further refusal could lead to trouble. Moreover, with so many people around, there shouldn’t be an issue. He hesitated for a moment and finally nodded, "Alright, but you must stop immediately when I say stop!"

And so, the sparring commenced.

People formed a circle around them, with Wu Li and Charles standing face to face, about three meters apart.

Charles advanced step by step, throwing punches as probing movements, but Wu Li remained unmoved.

Although they had agreed to only try one technique—the diving takedown on Wu Li to see if he could bring him down—Charles naturally wouldn’t go for it right from the start since Wu Li was already on guard.

After a few feigned punches, Charles’s shoulders twitched, and he leaned forward, pretending to lunge.

Wu Li moved his feet, seemingly planning to dodge, but Charles didn’t actually dive forward; it was a feint.

At a moment’s hesitation, Wu Li’s balance was shaken. Charles didn’t hesitate and took the opportunity to go all in with the dive.

Charles lowered his head, bent over, and with a push off his feet, reached out with his hands, and in a blink of an eye, he was right in front of Wu Li.

As Charles lunged, Wu Li extended his right leg, apparently intending to deliver a kick to Charles.

Charles sneered, the diving takedown was a popular technique among Jiu Jitsu practitioners because of its suddenness and explosiveness. Without sufficient distance and preparation to gather force, even if the opponent kicked or threw a knee, there was little threat, making it easier for Jiu Jitsu fighters to grab their opponent’s leg.

Seeing Wu Li choose to kick, Charles scoffed at him for his lack of experience, then unhesitatingly wrapped his arms around Wu Li’s right leg.

Shush!

Charles gripped Wu Li’s right leg, and the onlookers widened their eyes, wanting to see how Wu Li would counter this move with Hua Country’s Kung Fu.

Wu Li also bent forward, his body leaning in, while his hands drew two arcs, seemingly pulling something into his embrace.

Just as Charles secured Wu Li’s right leg and powered up, looking to bring his opponent down, he suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, as if struck by a heavy object, causing his head to buzz.

It was Wu Li’s right fist that had traced an arc, directly hitting the back of Charles’s head.

The back of the head is unprotected by bones, containing many vital spots. The brainstem controls the central nervous system, and any damage to it would mean the body can no longer breathe or pump blood autonomously. That’s why strikes to the back of the head are prohibited in any combat sport.

At this moment, Wu Li’s punch to the back of Charles’s head was pulled, but it still disoriented Charles.

Taking advantage of Charles’s confusion, Wu Li grabbed his shoulders, flipped him over, and delivered a heavy punch to his face.

He had long wanted to punch that face.

One punch!

Two punches!

"Charles!" Danny shouted, "Stop right now!"

The surrounding students quickly moved in to pull Wu Li away, then checked on Charles’s condition.

Wu Li had been precise with his force; only a master-level martial artist like him would dare such a dangerous move, otherwise, a hit to the back of the head could mean a decade-long sentence.

Charles shook his head, with two punches to the face from Wu Li, blood flowed from his nose.

He came to his senses quickly, not even bothering to wipe the blood from his nose. Enraged, he pointed at Wu Li, "That’s against the rules!"

"Yes, I broke the rules," Wu Li bluntly admitted.

"Shameless! Despicable!" Charles cursed angrily.

Wu Li sneered, "If this were in the ring, I certainly would have broken the rules, but if this were real combat, my move just now would have been no issue because there are no rules to protect you in a real fight."

"I said before that the ring and real combat are different. You didn’t believe it and looked down on Hua Country’s Kung Fu. I had to demonstrate the difference between competition and actual combat through action. I believe this time the lesson will leave a lasting impression."

"Oh, by the way, the move I just used is from Hua Country’s Kung Fu, called ’Grass Hugging Rabbit.’"