Bab 8: The First Match (4)
Yu Jung-ak's powerful pounding struck Liu Jinshi's face twice. Liu Jinshi regained his composure and lifted his legs to attempt a triangle choke. However, Yu Jung-ak defended by pulling his body back.
[He has to defend. Yes. That's been released. Ah! An armbar! Liu Jinshi's ground game has improved significantly.]
The triangle choke transitioned into an armbar. However, Yu Jung-ak used this to his advantage and secured a side position.
Thwack! Thwack!
Short hammer fists landed on Liu Jinshi's face several times. Liu Jinshi held onto Yu Jung-ak's arms tightly, enduring the strikes.
Yu Jung-ak continued to strike downwards with force. Time continued to pass in this position. Just as Yu Jung-ak saw an opportunity to take mount, the referee tapped Yu Jung-ak's body and said:
"Stand up!"
The commentators became excited.
[Why would he call for a stand-up in that situation? It doesn't make sense. The referee who didn't react to the fence-grabbing and knee kick foul earlier...]
[Ah. Yu Jung-ak misses a valuable opportunity. There's only about 1 minute and 30 seconds left in the first round.]
[Still, Yu Jung-ak is performing exceptionally well. It's hard to believe this is his debut fight, he's so experienced.]
[He smells like a fighter with 20 fights under his belt! The flow of the fight is a bit different from what we expected. Liu Jinshi's takedown defense is so good that we thought Yu Jung-ak wouldn't be able to control him.]
[That's evidence of how intelligently he's approaching the fight. In fact, Yu Jung-ak has only attempted takedowns twice. But both were successful. The first takedown should be considered successful due to the fence foul. The second takedown was inevitable after catching the kick and timing it well. He's not shooting blindly, but creating opportunities before attempting takedowns, which is why they're working against Liu Jinshi.]
Liu Jinshi extended a long one-two combination as he closed the distance. The punches barely missed Yu Jung-ak's face.
As Yu Jung-ak backed up, Liu Jinshi quickly launched a follow-up attack.
Got him!
The fence was behind him. Liu Jinshi thought he had trapped him. But suddenly, Yu Jung-ak disappeared from his view.
An ultra-low takedown!
The fast and low takedown, characteristic of amateur wrestling, came in as if sliding across the floor.
Liu Jinshi fell backwards cleanly, as if he'd been in a traffic accident.
[Ah! He succeeds again. Liu Jinshi doesn't even get a chance to defend properly! Perfect timing!]
[This takedown looks reminiscent of former CFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre's takedowns. That's how perfect the timing was!]
The commentators were excited by the unexpectedly thrilling match. It wasn't just the commentators either. The audience was thrilled by the more intense-than-expected fight. Representative Jang Hyun-sung watched the fight with his characteristic expressionless face, but inwardly he was clenching his fists tightly.
The same was true for Cho Yong-il, Cho Yong-hee, and their teammates from Team Silence.
Thud!
From the guard position, Yu Jung-ak raised his upper body and threw a punch. Liu Jinshi twisted his upper body to avoid a clean hit.
Then came an upkick!
Liu Jinshi's upkick connected with Yu Jung-ak's face. Yu Jung-ak's punch also landed on Liu Jinshi's nose. It was a foul. When the fighter in the top position isn't standing, upkicks are only allowed to push the body away.
Kicking the face from below was a foul. Yu Jung-ak grabbed his face. The referee briefly paused the fight.
[I hate to say this, but Liu Jinshi is really parading fouls. Why is he doing this? He's not even a rookie making his debut.]
Liu Jinshi's nose started bleeding slightly, and the cut on Yu Jung-ak's eyebrow reopened, causing blood to flow again.
Another doctor check began, and the fight resumed in a standing position. The commentators became excited once more.
They questioned why the fight was restarting in a standing position.
They said a Spirit FC referee would never make such a call. The referee, Wang Jinguo, from the Hero Association.
He was blatantly favoring Liu Jinshi.
Despite all this favoritism towards Liu Jinshi, the situation wasn't going smoothly.
This was because Yu Jung-ak was showing an incredible performance that was hard to believe for a debut fight.
Thud!
Liu Jinshi wasn't a fool either. He read Yu Jung-ak's evasion patterns and attacked. Liu Jinshi's punches were landing.
Yu Jung-ak tried to dodge with his characteristic weaving, and when that didn't work, he raised his guard high to protect his chin.
Whoosh!
As soon as the guard went up, Liu Jinshi threw a high kick. He intended to break through the guard.
Yu Jung-ak avoided Liu Jinshi's high kick by backing up. Liu Jinshi followed up immediately with a flying knee kick.
Bang!
The knee seemed to plant itself in Yu Jung-ak's chin. However, Yu Jung-ak blocked it by tightly pressing his arms together. The block left his forearms tingling from the powerful impact.
Then came the standing strikes.
When the opponent threw continuous strikes, it became difficult for Yu Jung-ak to dodge. He had to react to too many movements.
The one fortunate point was that Liu Jinshi was throwing big, wide strikes.
[It's a flying knee kick. Yu Jung-ak is in danger!]
There was damage. The flying knee had connected significantly, so even with a guard up, it was impossible to hide the impact.
Nevertheless, Yu Jung-ak slowly guarded while avoiding Liu Jinshi's attacks. Liu Jinshi targeted Yu Jung-ak's face with sharp one-two combinations.
After failing with big swings, he was now aiming for shorter strikes to the chin.
However, surprisingly, Yu Jung-ak dodged by slightly tilting his head to the side. This was a high-level technique often used by boxers.
Just then, the bell rang.
[The weaving Yu Jung-ak showed at the end seems to be quite a high-level technique. Don't you think?]
[Yes. It seems he wasn't lying when he said he learned from Cho Yong-il. He has very good eyes. Liu Jinshi is known for his sharp strikes, but Yu Jung-ak is avoiding the clean hits well.]
[It seems Liu Jinshi has become a bit hasty after being taken down. Don't you think?]
[He definitely looks determined to finish the fight. That's why his movements are getting bigger. When the movements get bigger, it's easier for Yu Jung-ak to dodge. However, Liu Jinshi is a veteran. The key will be what advice he receives from his coaches before the second round.]
The audience in the venue was excited. Although there wasn't a fierce exchange of blows, an interesting fight was unfolding.
It was only natural, as the 18-year-old Yu Jung-ak, from whom no one expected anything, was putting up a good fight against Liu Jinshi.
Viewers watching Spirit FC in Korea were also paying close attention to the match. There was already a lot of discussion in the fighting community.
[Wow, Yu Jung-ak is amazing. If he prepares properly, he might make it to CFC]
[Stop getting ahead of yourself.]
[I agree. Liu Jinshi isn't well-known domestically, but he's a really skilled fighter.]
[Can Yu Jung-ak withstand Liu Jinshi's pressure in the second round? I don't think so.]
[Another catchphrase is born lol]
[:grin::q:grin:]
[He's already doing extremely well.]
[But isn't this fight unexpectedly entertaining?]
[If you've got eyes, use them properly. Yu Jung-ak definitely won the first round. If Liu Jinshi hadn't committed those fouls, he'd be getting pummeled on the ground by now. That would've drained his stamina. Grabbing the fence, knee kicks from a four-point position, upkicks. Why is this Chinese guy's manners so terrible? And I don't know what that referee is doing.]
[This is Soul FC throwing bait to promote Liu Jinshi.]
[Then wouldn't it be biased if it goes to decision?]
[Ugh, this is disgusting. What a waste for Yu Jung-ak.]
[That's the level of Soul, what do you expect.]
[Yu Jung-ak is handsome. Hope he succeeds!]
[But weren't most bookies predicting Liu Jinshi to win? What happens if Yu Jung-ak wins?]
[It'll be like DJ Dellagrotte vs Honan Barao]
[Holy Holland vs Randa lol]
[Baudum vs Quin]
[They'll just lose money lol]
[Did anyone bet on Yu Jung-ak?]
[Reported! zz]
[Enjoy your betting-related fun!]
[Clink! Clink!]
"Jung-ak! You did well. Really well!" Yoon Chang-seon first praised Yu Jung-ak. Yu Jung-ak sat down and drank some water.
"But in the second round, he'll come at you harder. He's probably figured out your evasion patterns and will attack more sharply."
"I'll try to dodge well."
"But Jung-ak, that guy's aggression is up, he's really pressing forward now."
"Yes."
"Try an elbow counter then. When he's coming in, don't step back, instead step in and just raise your elbow. You don't need to swing it, he'll run into it himself."
"You mean time it right?"
"Yeah. If you do it well, you might catch him. But only when you see the opportunity. Otherwise, you'll get countered. Since it's when he's coming in, you need to use an elbow. If you throw a punch, you'll get caught."
"I'll try to time it well."
"Don't overdo it, just keep doing what you've been doing. You're doing great."
Yoon Chang-seon had debated whether to mention the elbow counter. Yu Jung-ak was already doing so well, and he didn't want to burden him unnecessarily. However, Yoon Chang-seon decided to tell him. Yu Jung-ak was performing so well in his debut fight that it made him ambitious.
"Seconds out!"
The second round began. Liu Jinshi lightly stepped forward and occupied the center of the octagon. Yu Jung-ak extended a light jab.
It was just to measure the distance.
It was a jab that posed no real threat. Because Yu Jung-ak had the reach advantage, he used the jab to keep Liu Jinshi at bay.
Thump, thump.
Liu Jinshi bounced lightly, taking steps. Then he approached with an overhand hook!
It was a feint.
Pretending to throw a hook, he launched a leg kick instead.
Bang!
The leg kick landed precisely on Yu Jung-ak's left thigh!
There was no pain now, but after a few more hits, the pain would build up. A leg kick comparable to the pain of hell.
It seemed Liu Jinshi had properly strategized with his corner.
He wasn't rushing like before.
Bang!
Another low kick followed.
But this time, Yu Jung-ak also extended a left jab. The low kick and jab landed simultaneously. Naturally, Yu Jung-ak took more damage.
As Yu Jung-ak hesitated for a moment, Liu Jinshi rushed in.
Yu Jung-ak's takedown attempt!
However, as if he had been waiting for it, Liu Jinshi extended his legs and defended the takedown. No matter how good one's wrestling was, without securing a grip, it was impossible to take down the opponent.
As Liu Jinshi stretched his legs back, Yu Jung-ak quickly tried to stand up. Liu Jinshi grabbed Yu Jung-ak's neck in a Muay Thai clinch and threw a knee kick.
Thud.
It wasn't a clean hit, but there was impact. Blood started flowing again from Yu Jung-ak's eyebrow. It was more than before.
The blood flowed, soaking Yu Jung-ak's face and body.
The fight continued without interruption.
Yu Jung-ak caught his breath. Liu Jinshi was smiling at Yu Jung-ak. As Yu Jung-ak stepped back, Liu Jinshi rushed in.
Yu Jung-ak saw Liu Jinshi clenching his fist.
Yu Jung-ak raised his left elbow and just slightly grazed. As he moved forward, the timing of Liu Jinshi coming in and Yu Jung-ak moving forward coincided perfectly.
Liu Jinshi's big hook passed through the space behind Yu Jung-ak's head. Liu Jinshi's forearm hit Yu Jung-ak's face.
The striking point had missed.
In contrast, Yu Jung-ak's elbow landed precisely on Liu Jinshi's temple. It wasn't a powerfully swung elbow, but it was accurate.
The skin on Liu Jinshi's temple split and blood sprayed.
Liu Jinshi fell forward. Unconsciously, he grabbed Yu Jung-ak's leg.
Yu Jung-ak calmly gave up his leg and took Liu Jinshi's side, raining down punches. With each of Yu Jung-ak's strikes, blood splattered.
Both Liu Jinshi's blood and the blood from Yu Jung-ak's eyebrow sprayed.
One! Two! Three! Four! Five!
Large punches flew wildly. Liu Jinshi, lying in a turtle position, tried to raise his hands to cover his face but couldn't defend.
At this point, the referee should have stopped it.
But the referee, with a regretful expression, wasn't stopping it.
Yu Jung-ak threw more punches.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Liu Jinshi's face, buried in the floor, jerked with each impact.
Yu Jung-ak looked at the referee.
"Crazy bastard."
The curse escaped Yu Jung-ak's lips.
Yu Jung-ak was about to strike more but stopped and just stood up. Liu Jinshi didn't respond. Even though the referee hadn't stopped it, Yu Jung-ak stood up on his own.
He saw the seconds coming up.
Only then did Yu Jung-ak's vision widen. And he started to hear the commentators' voices.
Kang Du-hwan was speaking with an excited voice.
[Why isn't he stopping it! He should stop it! He's clearly unconscious, it should definitely be stopped! Ah! This is not right!]
[Unable to bear it any longer, Yu Jung-ak stops the ground and pound and stands up. It will be recorded as a KO, right?]
[Absolutely. Yu Jung-ak did very well. This is definitely the referee's fault. There were some unnecessary punches, but it's not Yu Jung-ak's fault. In fact, stopping there was the right thing to do. I hope Liu Jinshi hasn't suffered a serious injury.]
[But isn't this a huge upset victory?]
[That's right. South Korea's high school senior Yu Jung-ak has finished veteran Chinese fighter Liu Jinshi with an elbow counter in the second round. An amazing new star has appeared.]
[It's thrilling. I'm not lying, I've got goosebumps all over.]
Yoon Chang-seon came up and lifted Yu Jung-ak high. It was his way of saying how well he had done.
2nd Round Elbow KO
It was Yu Jung-ak's debut fight that would be recorded as a massive upset victory.
Hadiah
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