Chapter 110: I’m Just Here for the Violence
Not even two weeks had passed since Alex first returned to Las Vegas. And during this time he spent every waking hour training at the MMA gym, or talking via video call with his many women from Korea.
However, one day while at his gym, he was approached by Vanessa, who had quickly been assigned by the gym as his new manager, in addition to being his grappling trainer. She looked rather troubled as she called Alex out from a sparring session to speak with him in private.
“Alex, do you mind if I have a word with you?”
Alex had just managed to hit his sparring partner over the head with a solid left hook, staggering the guy. And thus he called off the session, in order to speak with his manager.
“Yeah, sure Nessa. What’s up?”
The woman rolled her eyes when Alex called her this. She absolutely hated the fact that he had given her a pet name. But she didn’t have the energy to argue with him about it after a week of him calling her that. Thus, she immediately dragged him to a secluded area of the gym and spoke to him about the offer he had been given by the Ultimate Fighting Challenge.
“You have been offered a fight…”
Though this surprised Alex, he was excited. After all, he wanted to make his debut already, even if it had only been two weeks since signing with the UFC, and thus he was quick to ask for details about it with an eager expression on his face.
Vanessa could only sigh and shake her head before prefacing how much of a bad idea this was.
“Listen Alex, I know you’re eager to make your debut with the UFC. But this is a really bad idea. To put it simply, your opponent is 9-0 in his mixed martial arts career, and 3-0 in the UFC. He is what you might call a rising prospect, and many consider him to be the next big thing in the Light Heavyweight division….
The guy who was supposed to be fighting him tore his ACL in training, and they need a last-minute replacement. Apparently, the promotion has been having a hard time finding an opponent for this guy because nobody wants to fight him on a week’s notice, and so they are offering you up as a sacrificial lamb. I highly suggest you turn down the offer…”
Alex scoffed at this. He knew how petty Dan Weiss could be when fighters turned him down, and it sounded like he was their last option. If he did turn down the offer, the fight would be pulled from the card, and Alex would immediately gain a negative reputation with the promotion. Thus, he shook his head, and declined Vanessa’s advice, before asking more about his opponent.
“Nah, that ain’t gonna happen. I’m going to knock this fucker out. So who is he? And how does he fight?”
Vanessa stared at Alex in disbelief, though she wanted to convince him to reconsider this. She knew enough about the kid after only two weeks of training with him that nothing would convince Alex otherwise, thus she spoke about his opponent.
“His name is Vitor Borges. You could say his fighting style is similar to yours. He’s the type of guy to go out there and slug it out until somebody goes down. If you are serious about taking this guy on, I would suggest you use your grappling to take him down and defeat him on the ground!”
Yet Alex had no intentions of doing this and smirked as he thought about putting on a show during his debut that nobody would ever forget. And when Vanessa saw this, she got a really bad feeling about where Alex’s mind was.
“Please don’t tell me you’re thinking about doing what I think you’re doing.”
Of course, Alex’s words were an admission of what she feared most.
“Let’s the best man win!”
After saying this, Alex spent the next week cutting weight, and preparing for his fight in the most intensive fight camp he ever had experienced in his life.
—
A week later, in another part of Las Vegas, a group of friends had gathered together to watch the UFC card of the week. And though only one of the guys was an actual fanatic of the sport, with his other friends being involved heavily with team sports such as football. They all gave him his Saturday night to watch MMA with him.
Chad Whitmore was sitting on the couch with his girlfriend. Though they only started dating during their freshman year at UNLV, he and Emily had known each other since childhood. Chad was the star quarterback of the UNLV football team, and had been so since his freshman year. He was what one might call a sports prodigy, a man with the potential to be considered the GOAT if he pursued a professional career in the sport.
While at the same time, Emily was the captain of UNLV’s cheer squad. They were considered a power couple by the student body, and because of this, their friends invited them to every gathering. Thus, Chad was entertaining his friend by showing up at his Saturday night UFC party.
There were all kinds of snacks on the table, along with plenty of alcohol. And though they had just witnessed a rather boring fight, Chad’s friend was adamant that the next fight would be a banger.
“Bro, Vitor is a fucking savage. Unfortunately, his last opponent pulled out due to an injury, and so they got some new guy from Korea to replace him. Just you wait, Vitor is going to maul this fucking noob!”
Eily looked rather distressed. She honestly hated watching these fights, but she did it for her boyfriend. And thus, she sipped on her beer in silence. That is until the music began to place in the next walkout. It was a masterful display of both orchestra and metal, taken from a popular anime, which fit the fighter’s personality perfectly.
The lyrics were sung across the stadium and elicited a massive roar as a Caucasian man emerged while wearing a hood, which concealed the majority of his face.
“My brother! Come join me! In battle, we are stronger!”
The announcer began to mention the stats about the fighter as he walked to the cage while shadow boxing with a rather menacing smile on his face.
“Alex Smith is 3-0 in his professional career, and has apparently won all three of his fights via knockout or TKO. He was picked up on Dan Weiss’s new hit web series: Searching for a Beatdown, after knocking out his opponent with a showtime kick. Supposedly, his fight name is “Berserker” which exemplifies his incredibly violent fighting style. If he performs like he previously has, we are looking at a hell of a fight…”
It was not until Alex took off his hoodie and threw it aside, did Emily gasp in shock. When she first heard the name Alex Smith, she thought it was just a coincidence. After all, it was an incredibly common name. But when she saw the man’s face, she instantly knew it was the same boy who lived next door to her, and followed her around when they were kids.
Yet she did not say anything, instead she looked over at Chad, who did not seem to recognize the man, and sighed in relief. While thinking to herself that it was best not to bring up the past. And soon enough, the fight began where Alex would shock his childhood friend with a particularly violent performance.
—
The round began, and like all his previous fights, Alex charged towards the center of the cage, with his fists raised in a perfect Thai style guard. Surprisingly, his opponent did the same, and the moment they met in the center, they both began to throw at each other without fear for their own wellbeing.
Alex threw a jab and a cross, which was followed by a leg kick. Though these attackers were blocked by his opponent, who countered with his own combo. And though one of the punches landed on Alex, he did not seem to care in the slightest as he threw a monkey kick to the man’s gut followed by a heavy over hand left which left his opponent staggered.
The crowd was absolutely screaming in excitement. At the start of the fight, Vitor had taken the center, and this nobody had stood toe to toe with him. Nobody else would dare do such a thing, at least in the lower levels of the division. Alex, of course, followed up his attack with a flying knee, but was caught by a spinning elbow before he could land it. Which cut him above his right eye.
Yet Alex did the unthinkable and wiped the blood into his golden hair, while licking the sanguine substance off his gloves in a savage gesture. Before throwing another flurry of strikes at the man, most of which he landed. It had not even been thirty seconds, and yet already both opponents were bleeding.
For the first time in Vitor’s career, he was on the back-step, doing everything he could not to get pressed against the cage. Yet Alex caught the man with a solid rear leg teep, which dropped him on his ass, against the cage.
Alex then followed up with a flurry of punches and elbows, as the crowd roared with excitement, thinking that Vitor, the rising prospect, the savage of the light-heavy weight division, was about to be finished in thirty seconds of the first round.
Yet Vitor got up and landed a solid uppercut on Alex’s jaw, thinking it would end the fight. Despite the heavy shot, Alex stood there and punched himself three times in the jaw, while roaring like a maniac. For the first time in Vitor’s career, he felt fear as he watched the man assault himself, after getting struck in the jaw with an uppercut. And thus he backed away from the cage and actually began to take a step back with each punch Alex threw.
Alex found himself chasing after his opponent, where he landed a solid front leg kick to the man’s jaw, which knocked him down to the ground. And though Alex tried to follow up with ground and pound, Vitor rolled backwards and onto his feet where Alex followed suit with another flying knee, and an eleven to five elbow. Both of which landed, cutting open Vitor’s face even more, turning him into an absolute bloody mess.
In another savage display, Alex once more licked the blood from his gloves, which was now a mixture of his and Vitor’s. He followed up with another three punches, two to the head and one to the body. Causing the man to wince in pain, and turn his back on Alex while he ran away from him. The crowd actually began to boo Vitor, as he ran from Alex. All the while, Alex shouted at the man in an enraged voice.
“Stand and fight, you coward!”
Even the announcers were shocked at this display.
“Unbelievable! We are now a minute into the fight, and Vitor Borges is running away with his back turned to his opponent! What world are we living in?”
Alex ultimately chased after the bloodied and bruised man, where he squared up with the guy, and threw a rear leg head kick that landed flawlessly on the man, knocking him down for the second time in the first round. Much to the shock of the crowd, and the announcer who cried out in amazement.
“Oh, my god! Vitor Borges is down again! Let’s see if Smith can finish this!”
And sure enough, Alex immediately got on top of the guy, and began raining punches, elbows, and hammer fists on his face with ruthless ferocity. A total of twelve strikes landed on Vitor’s face, three of which were after his eyes had rolled to the back of his head, until finally the referee pulled Alex off of his victim.
Alex had stunned the world. He not only shut down the rising prospect of the light heavyweight division by beating the man at his own game, but he had even broken the man doing so. To make a fighter turn his back to you and flee across the cage it was not a common sight.
And once Alex was up on top of the cage, pounding his fist to his chest, which was covered in both his blood, and that of his opponents, the camera panned off to Dan Weiss and his expression. The man was holding his head with both hands and mouthing the words, “Holy Shit!”
Nobody had expected Alex to win this fight, let alone in such a brutal and spectacular fashion. The crowd was roaring with excitement and waiting for the post fight interviewer to speak with the man who had just done the unthinkable.
—
Meanwhile, back at Chad’s friend’s place, Emily was in complete and total shock. This was a man she had known in childhood. A boy who was nice and kind, and only ever trained in martial arts to defend himself from bullies.
Yet here he was, beating a man half to death with a sadistic smile on his face, while covered in his victim’s blood. She could not even fathom that they were the same person. What had led Alex to pursue such a violent profession and to take part in it with such sadistic pleasure?
As for Chad’s friend, who was a fan of the sport, he was standing up and shouting, while spilling his beer all over the place.
“Did you fucking see that? Nineteen years old? And he just brutalized the fucking Ax-Murderer! Jesus fucking christ!”
Chad, however, was annoyed with his friend’s outburst and told him to shut up and pay attention.
“Dude, shut the fuck up! The interview is about to begin…”
And thus they all turned their attention back to the TV, where Alex spoke to the interviewer.
The interviewer was a relatively short and bald man. Despite this, he was absolutely jacked. He was most well known outside of the sport for having the most popular podcast in the world. And he stood next to Alex with a stunned expression on his face.
“I’m here with Alex Smith, the guy who in his UFC debut just TKOed the rising prospect, Vitor Borges. Alex, that was a spectacular performance, and I have to ask, is there any fighter in particular you want to call out after such a brutal display?”
Alex immediately pulled out his fanged mouth guard, and grinned, as he looked at the Cameras. His next words would make him a meme on the internet, as he spoke how he felt in that moment, and shocked the audience as he did so.
“Man… I’m just here for the violence!”
The crowd immediately broke out into roars of thunderous applause at Alex’s statement. Which caused the interviewer to chuckle, as he asked for clarification on what this meant.
“So you’re telling me there is nobody in particular who you want to fight next?”
Alex then grabbed hold of the microphone and voiced his opinion about who his next opponent should be.
“Nah man, I don’t really give a shit… But I’ll tell you what, whoever you end up feeding me next, you better make damn sure that they stand and bang with me! Because nothing is more embarrassing for the sport than a coward who flees once the fight doesn’t go his way! Or worse, some sniveling pussy who tries to grind out a decision by scoring points the entire fight! God forbid, if you send me one of those, I swear to god I will send his ass to the fucking morgue! Fuck that!”
Alex’s crude demeanor and his apparent love for violence immediately made him an icon in the MMA community, especially among the “just bleed” crowd. But it was the Alex’s answer to the interviewer’s next question that made Emily feel the most distraught with this whole thing.
“I’m just receiving word now that you have been awarded the fight of the night bonus after that spectacular display. What are you going to spend your money on?”
Alex scoffed before grabbing hold of the microphone once more, where he answered the question as honestly as he could.
“Shit man, I think I’ll buy my girl something nice.”
The interview continued for some time, before Alex left the cage like a conquering hero. As for Emily, the moment she heard Alex say that he would buy something nice for his girl with his bonus, she curled her fists and grit her teeth. So much so that she ended up shattering her beer bottle.
This caused everyone to look over at the girl to check and see if she was alright. Of course, Chad was the first to do so.
“Emily, are you alright?”
Emily took a deep breath to calm her nerves while she stood up from her seat and walked out the door of the house.
“I’m fine… I just need some fresh air, that fight… Was a bit too much for me…”
After saying this, Emily left the party, and Chad followed with her. While at the same time, the man’s friend was talking about Alex as if he were some kind of god.
“Mark my words… One day this kid is going to be a fucking legend!”
—
Emily was not the only one flustered from the whole fight. As a part of Alex’s corner, Vanessa had watched the entire thing from up close. She was amazed at the level of violence Alex was able to engage in. She honestly never thought the man had a chance.
He was too young, and too inexperienced. Yet he not only beat Vitor at his own game, but Alex actually broke the man and caused him to flee in fear. Nobody ever expected him to do such a thing, especially not Vanessa.
But seeing how vicious and sadistic Alex was, it made the woman instantly attracted to Alex, something which even he noticed, as a message was sent to his vision from the system.
[Vanessa likes your violent nature!]
[+5 Affection from Vanessa]
[Vanessa’s Affection: 6/100]
This caused Alex to smirk when he finally noticed the message after the fight was over, and he was in the locker room. However, there was another message that appeared in his mind, which caused the man to gawk like an idiot.
[Emily dislikes your violent nature!]
[-2 Affection from Emily!]
[Emily’s Affection: 48/100]
[Emily dislikes the fact that you have a girlfriend!]
[-3 Affection from Emily!]
[Emily’s Affection: 45/100]
It was at this moment Alex realized another heroine had watched his performance without him realizing it. However, unlike Vanessa, she found his brutal display to be nothing more than dissatisfying. Moreover, it was a girl named Emily who was clearly from his past. Alex could not help but voice his thoughts aloud after realizing this, while he thought about his past in this life.
“Emily? No, it couldn’t be….”