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Chapter 315 - 286 Classic Moments of UFC

Chapter 315: Chapter 286 Classic Moments of UFC

January 27th, 8 PM, UFC 255 was held at the Arthur Stadium in New York.

Mikel sat in the back row seats with his son, watching the fights. The first seven matches were undercards and had started to bore him.

"Nowadays, UFC is just getting more and more boring."

He had been an old UFC fan. In 1996, his father had taken him to see a UFC event live. That was one of the earliest UFCs, the rules were quite different from today: apart from prohibiting eye gouging, groin attacks, and biting, there were no other restrictions.

Back then, UFC fights truly showcased blood and violence to the fullest, and Mikel, at 18 years old, had followed his father to a live match that left an impression on him that lasted to this day!

It was precisely because of this lasting impression from that time that Mikel continued to follow UFC. He witnessed UFC’s climb from oblivion to nearly being banned, and then to its later prosperity.

Although its influence grew and more people paid attention, Mikel felt UFC had lost the purity it had in the beginning.

It wasn’t that the matches were less bloody than before but that UFC had become too commercialized. In Mikel’s view, many of the big-name fighters were largely hyped up, their real abilities not matching their repute!

On this point, Mikel greatly appreciated the early UFC when the period could be described as a gathering of stars: Minotaurs, Judgment Chief, Bad Boy, Iceman, GPS... These giants were almost without exception legendary and substantial, with not a hint of fraudulence.

Mikel missed the championship battles of that time when every fight between two giants was a classic and each one got the blood pumping and left a lasting memory.

Back then, to see ’Bad Boy’ versus Iceman live, Mikel had spent three months’ salary to buy a ticket from a scalper. Afterwards, he didn’t regret it in the slightest; instead, he felt very fortunate.

But in recent years, UFC’s allure for him had diminished a lot, the reason being that in his opinion, there were few truly remarkable stars that could keep him excited and unable to sleep the night before a match. Such fights had not appeared for many years.

The reason he came to the event today was entirely because of Legendary Spider Silva.

Among active UFC stars, Silva was one of the few Mikel considered truly impressive. The fighter had dominated the middleweight class for seven years and was now 39 years old. Mikel wasn’t sure how much longer he could maintain his peak, so he didn’t want to miss any of Silva’s matches, as each could be the last.

"Dad, the main card is starting!" his son, Booker, shouted loudly.

Under Mikel’s influence, his son had also fallen in love with UFC, often watching matches together. Mikel had thought of coming to the venue today and brought his son along.

Mikel yawned as he watched the central ring, "I’m just waiting for the final Spider Silva match; the previous ones aren’t that interesting."

Booker laughed, "But Wu Li’s fight is coming up soon."

Mikel smiled; he knew Wu Li. His son had mentioned him many times and had seen the video where Wu faced three assault rifles, indeed impressive.

He had not seen the live broadcast of the previous match between Wu Li and Dan Hu, but the recording was quite spectacular. So the main purpose of coming tonight was to see Silvar, and secondly, he hoped Wu Li would bring him some surprises.

The fights continued one after another; around 9 o’clock, tonight’s co-main event: Wu Li VS Charles.

"Please welcome the fighter ranked eighth in the lightweight division, the War Machine, Charles!" the announcer’s voice boomed.

Charles made his entrance, the applause was lukewarm, and some boos could even be heard, making Charles’s expression somewhat stiff.

"Please welcome the fighter ranked seventh in the lightweight division, the Kung Fu Hero, Wu Li!"

Wu Li entered, and this time the applause in the arena was much warmer, with very loud cheers.

"Dad, Wu Li is entering!" Booker exclaimed with excitement.

Mikel nodded and sat up straighter.

In the ring, the fighters touched gloves, and the referee signaled the start of the match!

Charles went on the attack immediately, diving in.

The reason he was called ’War Machine’ was his proficiency in close-quarters combat and aggressive takedowns to draw opponents into a grappling fight. He always initiated the attack proactively, regardless of whether the opportunity was good or not, never backing off. Even if it resulted in injury, he would keep trying to take his opponent down.

Such a highly proactive fighter made for very entertaining matches, and the audience loved seeing this kind of relentless offense.

Charles lunged forward, while Wu Li retreated to dodge and at the same time aimed a kick at Charles’s chin, which Charles managed to avoid.

Mikel watched the rapid exchange of strikes; Wu Li used techniques like those in his last fight, ones not commonly seen on the ring.

"Look, this is Hua Country’s Kung Fu!"

Booker said excitedly, emphasizing the words "Kung Fu."

Mikel nodded, as this was another reason he anticipated Wu Li, who brought a refreshing change to the mix.

"Dad, I think Wu Li can start a whole new school. He can completely bring Hua Country’s Kung Fu into the UFC system!" Booker declared.

Mikel chuckled and shook his head, "No, that’s too hard. Do you know how Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu rose to prominence?"

"The earliest UFC matches were open weight class, which means a Lightweight could end up facing a Heavyweight!"

"It was under these indistinct conditions that Royce Gracie from the Gracie family won the first UFC no weight class tournament, and then went on to dominate for three consecutive championships! His most impressive record was defeating an opponent who weighed 110 kilograms while he was only 79 kilograms!"

"It’s because of such god-like strength and records that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu transformed from a little-known minor school into the main stream of UFC today, known by countless people across the world, with nearly 80% of UFC fighters studying and learning it."

Mikel said with a smile, "Booker, things are different now. The techniques and styles in the ring have evolved to near perfection. To introduce a completely new style that every fighter would study and learn, unless someone displayed overwhelming power like the original Royce Gracie, dominating every weight class of UFC, it could be possible."

"But now, it’s nearly impossible, even for legends like Spider Silva and Demon King Jon, they had dominated only in their own weight classes, but couldn’t dominate all."

Booker was slightly stunned, "79 kilograms defeating 110 kilograms? Dominating all weight classes? That’s unbelievable!"

Mikel went on, "So yeah, at most Wu Li can make his opponents thoroughly study his Kung Fu, but for it to become a new school, that’s still too difficult."

As the father and son were talking, the situation in the arena changed again.

Suddenly, Wu Li stopped confronting Charles head-on and, like an eel, began circling around Charles non-stop.

"So agile!" Mikel exclaimed.

This kind of speed and agility was almost only seen in Featherweight matches, where the fighters were as agile as monkeys, but due to their light weight, they lacked striking power, making the matches less entertaining than those in higher weight classes.

At this moment, Wu Li was demonstrating speed and agility that were not inferior to those of a Featherweight, making it very difficult for Charles.

Charles was an expert in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu; without getting close, he couldn’t unleash most of his power.

Just when everyone thought Wu Li would keep moving around looking for an opportunity, he suddenly twisted his body and pushed out with all his might with a palm!

"Wow!" Booker exclaimed, feeling the heaviness of Wu Li’s power from his forceful strike.

Bang!

Charles blocked Wu Li’s palm, and before he could counterattack, Wu Li’s fists rose and fell, his right fist chopping down from above.

Bang!

Charles raised his arm to block, and a dull thud echoed outward as he was forced to take a few steps back.

However, it wasn’t over; Wu Li advanced again, with the same movement, fists raised and the right fist chopping down, another strike!

Bang!

Even from a distance, Mikel and Booker could vaguely hear the muffled sound of the collision.

Charles was forced to step back again.

Wu Li continued forward, lifting his fists for the third time, the same technique!

Bang!

This time, Charles had nowhere to retreat, his back slamming into the wire fence behind him, then rebounding right in front of Wu Li.

Booker’s mouth fell open in shock, and Mikel was equally surprised.

What happened next left a deep impression on the father and son, and they would talk about it with relish many years later:

Wu Li didn’t continue his assault, but instead turned around, not even looking at Charles, who stood motionless behind him.

Amidst the uproar, Wu Li walked to the center of the ring, turned around, and extended his finger towards Charles.

One.

Two.

Three.

Charles fell to the ground with a thunderous sound.

(Sorry, there was a problem with the network, the replacement was late.)