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8. Changgong in a Pinch! <3>
Surprised, Changgong pushed Junsu away with both of his hands.
Junsu flew off all the way to the cage on the opposite side.
Oh!
The audience exclaimed at the big movements.
Changgong had gotten out of the pinch, but his expression wasn’t good.
He had almost gotten caught in a guillotine choke.
‘How can that guy be an amateur?’
Something was off about the information. He didn’t know where this guy came from, but he was a pro for sure. And one with tens of matches under his belt.
Junsu quickly got up and faked a punch before coming in with a single leg tackle. Changgong hastily pulled his leg back and got away by pushing Junsu to the side.
Junsu reacted by getting on all fours to crawl towards Changgong like a monkey.
Changgong flinched.
‘What is this?’
He had all fours on the floor so Changgong couldn’t use his kicks or knees.
Junsu tackled with no worry, and Changgong was busy defending. Continued tackles and defense pushed Changgong back to the fence with one leg caught.
‘God.’
He couldn’t step on or kick him because he was on all fours when the split. But when they were stuck together Changgong was too worried about being dragged to the ground to think of anything else.
What was he supposed to do?
Changgong glanced at the clock. 3 minutes and 10 seconds had passed.
‘Let’s just hold out.’
Once 1 minute and 50 seconds passed, it would be time for a break. Dongsub would tell him what to do next.
As he was making his mind to drag it out, Changgong heard some voices from the audience.
-He’s looking at the clock. He’s scared.
-He fought so well before, though.
-This isn’t fun at all.
“

!”
Changgong felt like he was hit on the head.
‘What am I doing right now?’
He began doubting himself.
He wasn’t entertaining or inspiring the audience.
What was the point of such a match?
He hadn’t started martial arts for this. If he fought like this it wouldn’t be true martial arts.
Suddenly, Junsu mustered up his strength and pulled Changgong’s leg. Changgong kept his balance and defended against another takedown.
“

”
This wasn’t right.
If his blood wasn’t boiling and his heart wasn’t racing, it wasn’t martial arts.
‘I have to prove that I’m stronger than my opponent. Nothing will be gained from fighting like this.’
-Changgong Lee is unable to get out of this pinch.
-He must feel pressured by Junsu’s grappling skills. But still, he has become too passive.
The commentators spoke.
“

”
‘Let’s do this.’
‘My way!’
Changgong hooked the leg that Junsu was holding around his crotch and raised it while grabbing onto Junsu’s armpit. It was a variation of a ssireum technique, the inside leg trip.
Bam!
Junsu flew into the air before being slammed into the ground. Another exclamation rang out in the once silent audience.
Changgong got up right away. Junsu, too, did not stay on the floor for much long.
Smack!
Just as Junsu got up, Changgong threw out a forward punch. Junsu tripped backwards from the unexpected attack.
Changgong chased Junsu and threw a flying knee kick. Junsu blocked. It didn’t matter.
Changgong just had to beat him up harder.
Smack, smack, smack! Smack!
Changgong threw out a rapid fire of punches. Four of those landed on Junsu’s face. Junsu tried to punch, too, but they had no effect.
Slap!
Changgong threw a low kick in between the punches. Junsu swayed. It had landed well.
Junsu ran away quickly with a sidestep. Changgong used the same sidestep to follow with another low kick.
Smack!
The sound of the low kick was strange.
It wasn’t the low kick. It was a punch.
Changgong had faked a low kick before punching straight into Junsu’s face.
-Oh! The superman punch! It landed well.
-Changgong Lee! He’s back! He’s putting a lot of pressure on Junsu! It as if he’s showing us ‘this is what striking is.’ Amazing!
The commentators spat in excitement. The audience heated up along with them.
‘This is nothing yet.’
Changgong got into Junsu’s space on the floor and started pounding down on him. Thwack! Thwack! Changgong bashed down on Junsu’s head with fists like a pestle.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Changgong finally started to feel the sparks.
This was it.
It should have been like this from the beginning. This was Changgong’s style.
He was afraid of losing, not Junsu.
Woo!!
The cheers increased.
“Hit him Changgong! Keep hitting him!”
Dongsub shouted.
Dongsub’s blood boiled along with Changgong.
This was how it would end. This was it! Die!
Smack! Smack! Smack!
“

Yeah! Hit him! Keep going!”
Dongsub’s excitement felt a little strange even as he cheered Changgong on.
Changgong was doing well. So why was Dongsub worried?
Was Junsu really down?
Changgong was a hard puncher, but would he really have downed someone like that with a superman punch?
‘There’s something fishy

’
A thought suddenly sprang out in Dongsub’s mind.
“Changgong! Get up!”
Dongsub hastily shouted.
Just as he did, Junsu raised both of his legs and twisted them with Changgong’s left arm.
It was the closed guard armbar.
-Oh! What is this!
-He’s extremely fast. Changgong is on all fours so an upkick would have been an illegal move, but no! It’s an armbar!
Changgong’s grabbed his arm. But Junsu was faster in raising his back. Changgong had grabbed it, but is grip was too loose. It would be released soon.
“Grr

!”
Changgong’s face twisted as he used all his strength.
‘Fuck

!’
Dongsub grinded his teeth.
His brain must have rotted. How could he only realize now?
Kawasaki Yuichi.
An overseas Korean in Japan with a Japanese father and a Korean mother.
He was a veteran of 9 years in the Japanese martial arts group ‘The Game,’ where his specialty was to lure his opponents in by looking weak before he caught them in a grappling technique. He had a lot of wins by decision because he didn’t grapple aggressively.
That Kawasaki Yuichi’s Korean name was Junsu Kang.
He retired 4 years ago, so Dongsub had forgotten about him.
‘This is my mistake.’
Because he had thought Sanghyeon would make it to the finals, Dongsub hadn’t looked that deep into Junsu. Shit.
-Junsu is rolling!
Junsu twisted his body, forcing Changgong to bend down, and followed up with an armbar.
It was a variation of the armbar, the reverse armbar.
Changgong lost his composure as his body leaned forwards and let go of his grip to support himself with his hand on the floor.
Changgong tried to roll out of the armbar, but Junsu had matched his timing and rolled with him to switch to a normal armbar.
Grip.
‘Fuck!’
Changgong barely held back a curse.
He had thought it was a little strange.
It wasn’t over until it was. Hwanseong had pulled one over him just like this, but he fell for it again. ‘Fucking retard!’
“Give up!?”
The referee shouted.
“No!”
“Changgong tap out! It’s over!”
“It’s not over!”
“Tap out! Bastard!”
“It’s not over-!”
That fucking fool! He doesn’t even realize his arm is going to break!
Dongsub was going to thrown in the towel. He wasn’t going to let Changgong’s fighting career end before he even debuted as a pro.
It was then.
Crack.
“

!”
Changgong’s elbow and shoulder bent over backwards.
9. Who won the Grand Prix? <1>
-Ack!
The audience cried out.
It was a horrifying scene.
Changgong’s elbow and shoulder were destroyed.
The referee and Junsu were also surprised. The commentators, too, lost their words.
Junsu was especially shocked.
He had no plans on breaking Changgong’s arm. He was also a fighter and knowing how devastating a fracture could be for a fighter, he would never purposely ruin an arm.
But Changgong had twisted his body and broke his arm himself.
“Stop!”
The referee swung both his arms.
“Changgong!!”
“You fucking idiot! I told you to tap out!”
A shaken Dongsub and Doyoon tried to enter the octagon.
It was then.
Smack!
A bright sound of a hit rang out.
Changgong had suddenly gotten up and dived at Junsu before punching him.
Junsu had let his guard down and fainted. Changgong’s thunderous pounding started.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Junsu’s head bounced off the octagon floor.
The referee threw his body at Changgong.
“Stop! The match is over!”
“Why is the match over? Why!”
“What do you mean why! Your arm

!”
“What’s wrong with my arm?”
The referee could say nothing.
Changgong’s broken arm was back in place like nothing had happened.
“Dongsub, that

”
Dongsub and Doyoon were equally as surprised. They were sure Changgong’s arm had been bent in a way an arm shouldn’t bend. So, how?
The audience murmured.
They didn’t know what happened, but they had stopped a match prematurely.
“Time!”
The stunned referee quickly deferred the decision. The judges gathered and discussed what to do.
Naturally, the arena was in commotion.
-Attention please. There was a small setback during the match. The judges are discussing the matter at the moment, so please wait patiently until they reach a decision.
The ring announcer came into the octagon and spoke. But the commotion in the audience did not subside.
“What did you do?”
Dongsub asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Your shoulder twisted back. And your elbow too.”
“It always did.”
Changgong said that as he put his hands together and pulled both his arms over and behind his shoulder. It was a bit stiff, but soon there was a crack sound, and Changgong’s arms went over his shoulders. His elbows were bent quite far too.
“My elbows feel a little stiff when I do this, but it goes farther than most people.”
Dongsub’s jaw fell.
“You’re double jointed?”
“What is that?”
Dongsub and Doyoon broke out in laughter.
Double jointed.
A special type of joint that stretches and bends farther than normal.
The thing Changgong had just shown where his arms went over behind his shoulder meant his shoulders were double jointed, and his elbows could bend backwards because they, too, were double jointed.
It was shocking.
Double joints were a unique characteristic that only came out in about one in a few thousands. You could say that an MMA fighter was blessed to be double jointed, but few of the already small number of double jointed people became fighters.
Changgong was extra special.
Most double jointed people were thin. Nobody would have thought a guy who normally weighed 85 kg was double jointed.
“You jerk! I almost had a heart attack!”
Doyoon put Changgong in a headlock.
“Hey now, the match isn’t over yet. My body is important here.”
Changgong joked.
His anxiety had gone away.
It was understandable. He had sent Junsu away with a punch.
“We don’t know how it’ll end. The referee did stop the match.”
Dongsub spoke.
“So I can lose?”
“The referee’s decision is really important in the MMA. It’s rare for a decision to be overturned.”
Changgong’s face twisted.
“That’s not fair. You said I’m double jointed or something. Then it was a bad call.”
“Anyone would have ended it in that situation. Who would infer that you’re double jointed without any information beforehand?”
He was right. Whatever happened, many people accepted that bad calls were just another part of matches.
But because it had happened to him directly, Changgong could only be disappointed.
He had trained like crazy for 4 months to get here.
It would be such a waste for the match to end with a bad call.
“The bell didn’t ring yet, so let’s just wait for now.”
Dongsub spoke as he watched Changgong’s expression fall.
Although he said that, Dongsub didn’t have much hope.
It would be difficult to overturn the decision. The MMA which was filled with dangerous moments, split-second decisions were important.
If they set a precedent here, more disputes against decision could occur in the future.
A little later, the judges handed the ring announcer a cue card as if they had come to a decision. The ring announcer spoke briefly with the judges before entering the octagon.
-I will now announce the result of the discussion.