361 Contender Part II
To say that Ismail was bewildered by the results of the first round was an understatement. He was beaten and bloodied, and damn near choked out. The anaconda choke that Alex had wrapped him up in was tight, real tight. If it had been applied just a second longer, he would have been slept.
But Alex didn’t stick to the submission, instead he let go and got on top of Ismail, where he landed a flurry of punches and elbows. To the point where Ismail’s face was now a mess, whereas Alex was walking around without a scratch on him.
Worse yet, Alex did not seem the least bit exhausted from the five-minute non stop beat down he put on Ismail. Further, the cocky brat was standing up, and actually shadow boxing in his corner, expending energy as a massive insult to Ismail. Who was heaving in between short sips of water?
To say that his game plan had failed miserably in the first few seconds of the fight was an understatement. And now, for the first time in his entire life. Ismail was hesitant to actually go for a takedown.
But, he also knew he did not have the striking excellence to stand with a knockout artist like Alex, especially one whose 8 limbs were as technical as a Lumpinee Champion. Only when the bell rang for round two did Ismail realize he may have bit off more than he could chew.
However, there was not much he could do other than fight. And because of that the man quickly stood in the center of the ring and began to swing with Alex. Alex nimbly avoided the one, two combo thrown by his opponent.
From his perspective, it was slow and sloppy. It was clear that this so called “Chechen Warlord” pretty much relied entirely on his wrestling in his fights, and never actually developed an efficiency in striking.
Because of this, Alex decided to play with his opponent some more. After all, he still had another round to fight in after this. Surprising the commentator’s once more, Alex did not use his usually aggressive demeanor. Instead, he suddenly switched to a counter striker.
He had fought many opponents before, but Alex hit much harder than any of them. And he was starting to understand why Alex was a finishing machine. Ismail fought back, throwing a sloppy jab, and cross.
But as he came in with the jab, Alex caught his arm, latching onto the man’s wrist and shoulder, while driving his knee into his opponent’s solar plexus, all the while using his strength, and control to push Ismail against the cage.
Ismail tried to break away, but got caught by a downward elbow which opened up a nasty gash across his forehead. From there Alex easily transition to an under hook, while gripping the back of the man’s head with his right hand.
The Chechen wrestler’s posture was immediately broken, allowing Alex to knee the man in the head, dropping him to the floor. Though he was still conscious, it was clear that this was a solid knockdown, and was counted as such on the score cards by the judges who watched the one sided beat down occur.
Alex, however, did not take a dominant position and get into the mount, or even side control, where he could easily finish the fight. Instead, he took a step back from the edge of the cage and flicked his hand in a gesture that essentially told his opponent to stand up and fight him like a man.
The roar roared with a mixture of cheering and booing. Some wanted Alex to finish the fight then and there, while others saw this as an opportunity for the man nicknamed “Baba Yaga” to spill more blood for their entertainment.
Jack Logan’s partner in commentary, who was a former Light-Heavy Weight, and Heavy Weight champion himself, expressed his disbelief at the situation while Ismail clambered to his feet, clearly punch drunk from the excessive blows he had taken.
“I think Alex actually intends to kill this guy! He could have easily ended the fight twice now, and yet he wants it to continue!”
Logan responded to these concerns, treating them as mere hyperbole, believing that Alex wouldn’t intentionally do such a thing.
“While his behavior is unusual, as Alex would normally go in for the kill right now, hyperbolically speaking. I doubt he actually intends to murder Ismail, but rather demonstrate his superiority in all aspects of the fight game.”
Nobody knew where the chant began in the crowd, but thousands of attendees began shouting a single word as Ismail got back into the center of the cage to fight Alex.
“Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Alex smirked when he heard this. Once more, like at the beginning of the fight, Ismail threw a feigned jab, which was followed by a takedown attempt. And just like before, Alex sprawled, circling around to his opponent’s side. Where he held control of one of the man’s wrists, with an inside grip. While raining punches to the side of his face repeatedly.
Ismail made the bold choice to turn into Alex in an attempt to get back to his feet. But Alex was quicker, standing up and snatching control of the man’s head with a Thai plum grip. Repeatedly kneeing his opponent in the head the moment he was no longer legally considered a “downed opponent.”
The chechen wrestler took a solid three knees to the skull, trying to block them with his hands, at the same time trying to take Alex down once more in a very sloppy double leg attempt. But Alex easily sprawled, before standing both behind him, and his opponent back up.
Just as Alex was about to land a vicious knee on his opponent’s chin, the bell rang. Signaling an end to the third round. While Ismail was completely bloodied and battered, with multiple cuts, welts, bruises, and swelling across his face and body.
Alex once more appeared completely unscathed, and unburdened as he shouted at his opponent, while being forced back to his corner by the referee.
“You better quit on that stool, or you won’t survive the third round!”
Meanwhile, Ismail was breathing raggedly, clearly not entirely there as his corner yelled at him in Russian. Whether he was thoroughly broken by Alex, and would quit on the stool or not, the crowd waited on the edge of their seats to see.