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Chapter 248 - 225: Have a Real Combat Match

Chapter 248: Chapter 225: Have a Real Combat Match

Grass Hugging Rabbit.

When the translator voiced this technique, those present were firstly stunned, then people couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Charles understood the mockery and couldn’t contain his fury.

"I’m going to kill him!"

"Let me go, I’m going to kill him!!"

Everyone forcefully held him down, preventing him from rushing out.

Wu Li simply turned around and left, paying no mind to the roaring behind him, a smile on his face as he walked forward.

The difference between competition and a real fight is especially clear in ground grappling—often the opponent may be on top suppressing you, but leaving the back of their head exposed. At that moment, a punch or using the elbow to strike the back of the head could easily hurt the opponent.

Moves like the forward-dive leg hug, which practically serve one’s weak points on a platter, are actually quite easy to counter in a real fight. That’s why Wu Li earlier said that there were many techniques within Hua Country’s Kung Fu that could counteract this move.

Of course, these techniques are all illegal moves, unusable in the ring. If it weren’t for Charles insistently putting his face within Wu Li’s strike zone, Wu Li actually wouldn’t want to use this method to knock down his opponent. He would rather defeat his opponent in the ring and earn everyone’s genuine respect.

However, it was uncertain whether this incident would lead the UFC to agree to an official match between Charles and himself ahead of schedule.

...

That very night, a furious Charles applied to UFC officials to fight Wu Li, his attitude extremely firm.

Eventually, the matter reached the ears of Dana White, the president of the UFC.

UFC owes its current standing to Dana White, having become one of the United States’ most popular sports and the highest-level mixed martial arts competition globally. Dana White played an indispensable role in saving UFC from the brink of bankruptcy by altering UFC rules for official acceptance, such as prohibiting kicks to the head and the spine of a downed opponent, and implementing strict pre-fight medical examinations.

Bloodiness, violence, ferocity, strength, intensity, casualties... When people think of fighting, these are the types of words that typically flash through their minds. Yet, Dana White turned what is ordinarily seen as the bloodiest business into one of the fastest money-making sports globally.

In a villa in Queens, New York, a bald Caucasian giant standing six feet tall hung up the phone.

He is Dana White, the president of UFC, known by many as the ’King of MMA’.

"What a troublesome little fella," Dana White remarked.

He had just received a report about the conflict between Wu Li and Charles today.

In fact, it was he who facilitated the TUF’s contract with Wu Li, sensing an excellent opportunity upon learning of Wu Li’s influence and fame in Hua Country.

Dana White’s business intuition and promotional skills are nothing short of striking. UFC has hosted successful events in Brazil, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates, with live broadcasts in many countries globally. Dana White’s next target is the fighting market in Asia.

With the rise of the ONE Championship in Asia in recent years, Dana White felt a looming threat. Thus, he wanted to start strategizing early, and Wu Li’s emergence provided an opening.

Considering the population size and economic power, Hua Country is undoubtedly pivotal in the Asian market. If UFC could capitalize on Wu Li’s momentum to break into Hua Country’s fighting market, that would represent another strategic move by Dana White.

So, when Wu Li initially demanded live broadcast rights from TUF, Dana White agreed without hesitation and instructed his subordinates to report to him all matters concerning Wu Li timely.

Dana White was aware of the prior tension between Wu Li and Charles and had a hand in Wu Li becoming a TUF coach, which speaks volumes about his stance towards Wu Li.

However, the current events had taken an unexpected turn; not only had Wu Li removed Charles from his coaching position, but he had knocked Charles down in front of a crowd, even employing illegal tactics, which made it difficult to save face.

The key issue was that TUF could edit out this part of the program afterward, but Wu Li’s side was live broadcasting. Given Wu Li’s popularity, this incident would likely spread throughout Hua Country very soon.

Ding ding ding!

The cellphone rang again, and Dana White glanced at the caller ID—it was Charles.

Many of UFC’s popular fighters were personally acquainted with Dana White, who always appeared approachable publicly—sometimes even being ’bullied’ by the fighters.

Charles had already called Dana White several times that evening, but Dana White hadn’t picked up until now.

Thinking it over, Dana White answered the call.

"Hey, Charles, sorry about that, I was in an emergency meeting. What’s up?"

"Come on, Dana. Don’t tell me you don’t know what happened. You must have seen my match application, right?"

"Charles, don’t be so agitated."

"I can’t stay calm! That damn yellow-skinned monkey publicly insulted me; I can’t take it! Listen, from now on, I’m only fighting him. Until you guys agree to let me fight him, I refuse any other match!"

Dana White’s expression changed upon hearing this, pausing for a few seconds before he spoke gently, "Charles, I can understand how you feel. Let me think about it."

"Dana, it’s just a fight, we both agreed, is it that hard for you?"

"Give me a little time, okay?"

"...Alright, I hope you can get back to me as soon as possible."

After hanging up, Dana White’s face looked a bit unpleasant. These fighters, before they became famous, were all very humble towards him, but once they made a name for themselves, each had his own ideas and no longer showed him the same respect.

But it didn’t matter. Even if the fighters were sometimes disobedient, he didn’t care because this was his league, and everything was under his control.

An hour later, Danny received a message. After confirming its accuracy, he began his preparations.

On September 18th, the last day of TUF, Charles did not show up.

The morning would decide the final two winners, and within not much time, the victors were determined.

Thus, the three fighters that signed with the UFC were chosen.

In the past, if there were instructor matches, they would hype it in advance, and the matches would be live broadcasted today.

But this year, due to Wu Li’s reasons, there were no instructor matches, so normally, this year’s TUF would have concluded.

"First of all, congratulations to the fighters who signed with the UFC; you will be starting a new professional career."

Danny spoke into the microphone addressing the crowd, "Thank you all for attending our tryouts, and if you still harbor hopes for the UFC, you are welcome to sign up for next year’s TUF."

"Lastly, I have some news to tell you all. Due to certain reasons, this year’s TUF has been quite different from previous years, with many unexpected developments."

On hearing this, everyone turned their attention to Wu Li, obviously the "certain reasons" were all because of him.

Danny also looked at Wu Li, "You are the first TUF history from student to instructor, and also the first to teach Hua Country’s Kung Fu in training. Your dispute with Charles started with a statement you made: The ring and real combat are not the same. With this in mind, UFC President Dana White has proposed a suggestion; he wants you and Charles to have a real combat match."

"Huh?" Wu Li looked surprised. "What kind of match?"

Danny smiled, "This is an idea that Mr. Dana White came up with on the fly. After our discussion and research, we found it very interesting, so we wanted to give it a try."

"We want you and Charles to compete on the real streets. Not a direct fight between you two but to respond to surprise attacks from the crowd."

"We will gather about twenty to thirty people, including ordinary folks and professionally trained fighters, who will hide among the crowd and launch surprise attacks on you both. You will have to ensure that you are not subdued or ’killed,’ and then we’ll see who can make it through the street unscathed, or who can do it faster."

After hearing all this, Wu Li thought Americans really knew how to have fun; they often loved doing things that you wouldn’t expect, like how the UFC once specially selected several champions to compete against a group of American soldiers in the jungle for their bare-handed combat skills, and even had them fight with daggers while wearing bullet-proof vests.

These events seemed absurd, yet many American audiences loved this stuff.

"Wow, there’s such a way to compete?"

"Sounds very interesting!"

"This is indeed close to real combat, fighting on the streets with surprise attacks, and potentially against multiple opponents."

"I want to watch!"

...

The live chatroom was buzzing with excitement.

The UFC president, because of a casual remark, was planning to arrange such a real combat match, which Wu Li found both surprising and reasonable.

Upon further thought, settling his grudge with Charles in this way would be more acceptable than a direct match in the ring.

Because no matter who lost, there would always be a chance to regain honor in the ring, and the audience wouldn’t have too many doubts.

"Charles has agreed, Wu, what about you?" Danny looked at Wu Li. "If you agree, then in three days, we can start this unprecedented match. Also, the fight will be live broadcasted to all American viewers."

Three days were for advertising and preparing for the match. It was imaginable that such a broadcast would attract many viewers, and Wu Li would quickly become known to Americans.

Danny really admired Dana White. Truly the king of MMA, he resolved the grudge between Wu Li and Charles in such a way that it was captivating and attention-drawing for the UFC, drawing in more viewers. Ultimately, it allowed Wu Li to debut and introduced American viewers to Hua Country’s Kung Fu, also pleasing the audience in Hua Country, all stemming from Wu Li’s statement.

"Wu, would you like to participate?" Danny asked again.

"I am willing," Wu Li nodded.