Martial Arts Livestreaming
Chapter 53 - 51 KO

Chapter 53: Chapter 51 KO

"Group C, Wu Li."

When the staff called out Wu Li’s name, the entire venue fell silent.

"Group C, Liu Zitao."

"Group C, Ma Jian."

"Group C, Qi Quanzhi."

After the staff finished reading the list for Group C, the audience was abuzz.

There were four seed players in the lightweight category. According to the rules, seed players were not to be placed in the same group, so Han Yuanfei, Lu Ping, Wu Li, and the last one Zhu Qianyuan, were each assigned to different groups.

Besides these four seeds, the unanimously recognized toughest nut to crack in the lightweight category was Qi Quanzhi. He had competed in the Asian ONE Championship three years prior, but an injury later on led to ONE not signing him again.

In the past two years, Qi Quanzhi had been active in domestic competitions, fighting in free fighting and MMA, earning appearance fees and prizes. His competitive condition had always been good, making him a professional contender.

Originally, if not for the last-minute addition of Wu Li, the tournament had intended to make Qi Quanzhi a seed player as well. Now that Qi Quanzhi and Wu Li ended up in the same group, many people thought there would be quite a show.

Besides Qi Quanzhi, Ma Jian was a retired professional fighter from Qi City. He had won the featherweight MMA championship in the national "Martial Arts Wind" competition and had now moved up to lightweight.

Although Ma Jian had not appeared in an official match for three years, he had been a professional and a champion, which made people wary of underestimating him.

Four people in a group, with three strong contenders, made it a veritable "Group of Death".

Many people began to sympathize with the one named Liu Zitao, feeling bad for his luck, while others felt forWu Li, believing his status as a seed player was more for show than a reflection of true strength. With such opponents in the preliminary group, qualifying seemed difficult.

"Master," Liu Yuanbo looked worriedly at Wu Li.

He had confidence in Wu Li, but this competition wasn’t just one match—the group stage involved a fight each day, a big test of physical endurance. If one got injured, there was no time to recover and one would have to fight wounded. With so many strong adversaries in the group stage, it would be very tough to advance.

"It’s okay, don’t worry," said Wu Li calmly.

When Li Jun had come to him with the agreement, he had suspected that there would be manipulations in the scheduling, and now it seemed slightly better than he had anticipated.

Wu Li originally thought that Li Jun would use his connections to place him in a five-person group where the other four contenders would be formidable, increasing the difficulty of advancing and ensuring he would be worn down even if he did.

What Wu Li didn’t know was that the combination of this draw had exploded in Li Jun and Lin Dongsen.

"What’s going on, why isn’t he in a five-person group?"

Lin Dongsen messaged Li Jun in frustration right after the results came out.

Li Jun was also dismayed, thinking, you’re asking me, who the hell am I supposed to ask...

However, both were not fools and quickly figured out the reason. It was likely Chang Zhiyang who, concerned that Wu Li’s early elimination would affect the tournament’s viewership, decided not to set up a hellish difficulty for him.

"No problem, even so, when it comes to 16 to 8, Yang Fan has a good chance of winning against him," Li Jun texted Lin Dongsen.

Lin Dongsen: "Hope so."

...

After the draw, the venue was quickly cleared for the start of the matches. Wu Li’s Group C was in arena three, and Wu Li was set for the second match, facing Ma Jian.

All the journalists and cameras turned towards arena three.

Originally, the Extreme Martial Arts Tournament had only planned to start broadcasting from the knockout phase after the group stages, in partnership with Qi City TV Station. But now, due to Wu Li, the interest in the fight had surged dramatically. Not only Qi City TV Station but other stations and online platforms had approached Pin Yi Company, requesting to broadcast the group stages of the Extreme Martial Arts Tournament.

Hmm, only Wu Li’s group matches. The rest are not of interest...

This was also why Chang Zhiyang changed his initial arrangements for Wu Li, as Wu Li could now directly impact his income, at least for the moment.

The first match on Court Three was Qi Quanzhi versus Liu Zitao.

Qi Quanzhi is 30 years old this year, 174 cm tall, and weighed in at 77 kg. Physically, he seemed average without any visible abs. His opponent, Liu Zitao, was 27 and looked very fit, with a well-defined six-pack and chiseled muscles.

The group stage of the Extreme Martial Arts Tournament consisted of three rounds, each five minutes long. During the knockout stage, it would change to five rounds, each also five minutes long.

On Court Three, the first round began, and Wu took aim with his phone camera at the action in the arena.

Because it was announced in advance that he would be competing today, the number of people in the live stream was quite high, currently more than 70,000.

On the court, Qi Quanzhi and Liu Zitao clashed.

Liu Zitao, perhaps wary of Qi Quanzhi’s professional status, adopted a defensive stance from the get-go and didn’t initiate any attacks.

Qi Quanzhi threw a few experimental punches. Seeing no reaction from his opponent, he completely let loose, delivering a combination of punches.

A left punch aimed at the opponent’s liver area, followed by a right hook to the head, and finally a left straight punch to the face.

In fighting, after all, hands are not shields and can’t block every gap; one of the purposes of combination punches is to constantly shift the opponent’s attention, thereby breaking through their defense.

When Qi Quanzhi struck the liver, Liu Zitao would instinctively lower his hands to defend. When Qi Quanzhi quickly threw the right hook, Liu Zitao’s attention shifted yet again. So, when Qi Quanzhi’s final left straight punch targeted the face, Liu Zitao’s defensive actions and focus were both a beat too slow, and he got hit by the punch.

On the court, having thrown a series of combination punches, Qi Quanzhi completely opened up. His movements were as smooth as flowing water, forcing his opponent to retreat step by step.

"Look, you can tell this Liu Zitao has definitely trained hard, and his basics are solid, but he’s just too nervous," said Wu, aiming his phone camera at the court, providing commentary for the viewers in the live stream.

"Don’t think just because a fight is only a few minutes long that it feels short. Once you’re in the arena and nerves kick in, time seems to pass especially slowly."

"Moreover, when you’re nervous, your muscles naturally tense up and all movements become distorted. No matter how well you’ve trained, you won’t be able to fight properly. Liu Zitao is too nervous; he has completely forgotten to fight back, standing there stiff as a post for the other guy to hit."

As Wu gave his commentary, the situation on the court suddenly changed. Qi Quanzhi knocked Liu Zitao down with a low sweeping leg kick, then leaned forward to pound Liu Zitao’s head with his right fist.

The rules of MMA in the early days did not prohibit soccer kicks and stomps, which meant that you could kick the head of a downed opponent or stomp their body. However, many events later deemed these actions too dangerous and barbaric and banned them.

Now, only a few competitions still allow techniques like soccer kicks. The Extreme Martial Arts Tournament follows UFC rules, which prohibit head kicks, stomps, and knee strikes to a downed opponent. Hence, Qi Quanzhi chose to use his hands to strike the opponent’s head once Liu Zitao was on the ground.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Qi Quanzhi repeatedly hammered Liu Zitao’s face with three heavy punches. Liu Zitao’s eyes were tightly closed, and his body no longer moved. The referee quickly intervened to stop Qi Quanzhi.

Under MMA rules, there is no count; if an opponent is unconscious or the referee deems them unable to continue, the match ends immediately. After observing for a few seconds, the referee on the court made a gesture, indicating Liu Zitao couldn’t continue the fight.

Roar! Qi Quanzhi roared excitedly to the sky, then towards the camera on the side, thumping his chest forcefully with his hands.

In 34 seconds, Qi Quanzhi scored a KO over his opponent and won the match!

Observing this scene, Wu also became flushed with excitement, eagerly anticipating his turn to enter the ring.

Without being present to witness the punch-to-flesh action and hearing the sound of solid strikes, one can’t fully appreciate the allure of a fighting competition. Watching a video and experiencing it live are completely different things.

At that moment, Qi Quanzhi in the court suddenly made a gesture with his hand, pointing provocatively towards Wu at the edge of the arena.

All cameras instantly focused on Wu.

Wu looked at his opponent, his lips curving into a small smile.

It was his turn to enter the ring now.

(Seeking recommendation tickets)

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.