To Live and Die.

This is where to post any franchises from sports not listed above.

Topic author
Soapy
Posts: 7018
Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 18:42

To Live and Die.

Post by Soapy » 15 Aug 2020, 17:17

djp73 wrote:
15 Aug 2020, 09:48
You just telling a story or hitting them sticks?
stick talk.
User avatar

Captain Canada
Posts: 2159
Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15

To Live and Die.

Post by Captain Canada » 16 Aug 2020, 02:01

Finally caught up. Y'all characters always catchinc charges, huh.

Topic author
Soapy
Posts: 7018
Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 18:42

To Live and Die.

Post by Soapy » 16 Aug 2020, 15:26

Captain Canada wrote:
16 Aug 2020, 02:01
Finally caught up. Y'all characters always catchinc charges, huh.
aht aht aht never got charged.

Topic author
Soapy
Posts: 7018
Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 18:42

To Live and Die.

Post by Soapy » 16 Aug 2020, 16:18

J.J. aimlessly scrolled through his phone before opening what had become his favorite app. He judged the faces and bodies of everyone that came up on his screen, swiping right if they got his approval. He had been pleasantly surprised by the talent level in Blue Ridge, Georgia even though it was mainly non-locals that were just passing through. His unorthodox schedule had made it hard for him to close on any of the matches he landed but nevertheless, they provided a good backdrop for some sleepless nights while on FaceTime.

"He'll be yours in a few," J.J. felt a tap as he snapped out of his mindlessness state as coach Kyle plopped down next to him.

Coach Kyle was one of the coaches that was going to be in Pedro Mendez' corner for his upcoming fight. The story of Jorge Masvidal, rising from an unknown veteran to a bonafide star, was just the inspiration Pedro needed to take his career more serious. He moved out of Miami into the secluded mountains of Georgia and hired full-time coaches for his camp, one of them being J.J. to handle his strength and conditioning.

Anticipating the high intensity workout he was also about to undertake, J.J. got up and started to stretch out his legs. He walked out of the office that was in the back of the gym and moved closer to where the action was as Pedro was finishing a round of sparring.

He was looking good and agile, something J.J. had been working with him on. At six-foot-two, a leaner Mendez was now going to be able to move down from Welterweight to Lightweight in hopes to be able to use his size more.

"Looking good," J.J. mentioned as the buzzer sounded and he got closer to the cage.

"Get your ass in here," Pedro shoved his current sparring partner off of him as he stood up, "You're supposed to be this Olympian motherfucker, right?"

"Don't get yourself hurt," J.J. laughed as he took a seat inside of the cage, "I'm not Chino, no offense."

"Fuck you," Chino scoffed as he took a seat next to J.J., "You try wrestling with that motherfucker for hours."

"Come on," Pedro waved him on, "I need a fresh body, I'm having a killer workout."

J.J. looked over to coach Zimmerman, who gave him a nod of approval. Before they broke for camp, they had used J.J. as one of the many bodies to throw at Pedro in order to replicate a fresher, stronger fighter but nothing live. It would just be a few minutes of drilling and light rolling as opposed to a full-on sparring session.

"Let's go!" Pedro exclaimed as J.J. went over and got some gloves and headgear from Chino, his usual sparring partner. It was the third week of camp and the days were getting longer so anything to break up the monotony of things was welcomed.

It didn't take long for Pedro to start tagging J.J., using his reach advantage to keep J.J. at bay while J.J. was noticeably slower on his feet as well. With his growing personal trainer business, J.J. had decided to use his body as a walking billboard and put on quite a bit of muscle mass, tipping the scale at over two hundred pounds now. He was still explosive but couldn't find an opening to go for a shoot with Pedro constantly tagging him.

J.J. started rotating to the left instead of to the right, throwing Pedro's rhythm off. He faked a jab before grabbing a hold of Pedro's right leg and bringing him to the ground. The takedown took a lot more energy than J.J. expected and before he knew it, Pedro's legs were now wrapped around his head and squeezing the air out of him.

......

"Great job today!"

In the back of the room was J.J., sprawled out on the floor as he waited for the sweat beads on his forehead to dry out. For the final weeks leading up to Pedro's fight, they had turned down the intensity to keep his legs fresh for the fight. When he finally returned to Miami following Pedro's, he took the off-time and extra money to visit his family back in Haiti for the first time in years so it had been almost two months since he went through one of his typical workouts and it showed.

"Hey," said a voice from above as J.J. looked up to see the teacher, Sarah, standing above him. She had a grin from ear to ear that had remained plastered on her face for the duration of the training session.

"Hey," J.J. grunted as he sat up. She was an older women -- probably in her 40s -- and went through the same workout J.J. just did but appeared to be ready for another one, "You sure know how to make us break a sweat."

"I try," she kept smiling, "I promise to get the names down but I'm sorry, what was your name again?"

"J.J.", J.J. tried to wipe his hands off but they remained sweaty as he shook her equally sweaty hands.

"Nice to meet you," she nodded her head, "I'm Sarah, of course. I loved having you today but I just wanted to let you know that this class is really aimed at beginners. I do my more advanced classes in the afternoon and evenings and that's more geared for competing amateurs. It is a different price point but I'm sure we can figure something out."

"Oh," J.J. explained, "I'm not like an MMA guy or anything, clearly."

"Out of breath a bit," she let out a slight chuckle, "But you looked pretty good out there, a bit more advanced than what this class is really for. I loved having you but I j..."

"I wrestled in high school," he explained further, "And college too but trust me, I'd look lost in your advanced classes. I'm just trying to move around a bit, you know, work up a sweat."

"If you like it I love it," she replied, "You've ever done jiu-jitsu before?"

"Sort of. I do some conditioning work for this fighter so we've rolled a few times and I've overheard a few things or two."

"Nice. How come you don't train with them? I'm sure you're around some pretty great coaches all the time."

"So that when I make an ass of myself," J.J. laughed as he looked down at his soaked shirt, "I don't have to hear about it for the next several days."

"Sounds like a plan," Sarah agreed, "I still think you're better off with the more advanced guys but you can run it with this morning crew for now and see where we're at in a few months."
User avatar

Captain Canada
Posts: 2159
Joined: 01 Dec 2018, 00:15

To Live and Die.

Post by Captain Canada » 16 Aug 2020, 19:18

The build-up is great, keep it coming.

Topic author
Soapy
Posts: 7018
Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 18:42

To Live and Die.

Post by Soapy » 16 Aug 2020, 19:45

Captain Canada wrote:
16 Aug 2020, 19:18
The build-up is great, keep it coming.
getting to the good stuff.

Topic author
Soapy
Posts: 7018
Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 18:42

To Live and Die.

Post by Soapy » 16 Aug 2020, 20:26

"Move him to your right! Move him to your right! Circle! Circle! That's it! That's it!"

Coach Zimmerman's commands rang sharp in the mostly empty gym with the repetitive thudding of Pedro's gloves serving as the backdrop. The morning sun peered through the various windows, providing just the right amount of lighting as Pedro had began to work up a sweat. It was the early stages of camp and it showed, his breathing being a bit heavier than usual.

J.J. was a studious observer from outside of the ring, one of the few that had already made the trek to where the site for yet another fight camp would be at. Pedro's last fight was a kick boxing work of art, enough to get him some buzz as a potential contestant on Dana White's Contender Series, a promotion ran by UFC's president Dana White.

His intense camp for the last fight worked but it was also quite expensive, more than he could continue to afford. Cuts needed to be made so there were fewer sparring partners, fewer coaches but J.J. wasn't a sacrifice he was willing to make. He had been in the best shape of his life, allowing his volume of punches and kicks to remain consistent throughout the fight, guiding him to an unanimous decision over a previously undefeated prospect.

"Time!"

Pedro confidently walked over to coach Zimmeman while Chino was hunched over, trying to catch his breath. J.J. listened carefully as coach Zimmerman started giving him some pointers and laying the initial ground work of what the game plan for his next fight would be. Coach Zimmerman was a former amateur boxer and was very gifted when it came to teaching the principles of striking so whenever he spoke, J.J. listened. Sarah had been egging him on to start competing as an amateur but J.J.'s lack of striking experience worried him. Getting pinned was one thing, getting punched in the face was a whole another ballgame.

"Let's go!" coach Zimmerman commanded as Pedro and Chino went head to head once more.

It didn't take long for Pedro to start dominating once more, this time barely even breaking a sweat as Chino labored.

"Goddamn," Pedro mocked him, "I need to get a real fucking workout in, man. I got like ten pounds of partying to shed."

Pedro tagged him a few times, getting a disapproving look from coach Zimmerman. At this point, Chino was just a walking target.

"Get in here," Pedro shoved Chino out of the way and pointed at J.J., "Let me get a real warm up."

While J.J. felt bad for Chino, a part of him was excited as he quickly took off his watch and got geared up. He had been training with Sarah for a few weeks now since the last time Pedro choked him out and felt confident now that he was back in the 180-pound range, his foot speed would be able to keep up with Pedro when standing up and his grappling was decent enough to avoid the instant tap.

"Work him a little bit," coach Zimmerman told J.J. as he entered the cage, "Make him have to circle you, we're working on that all day today."

J.J. nodded as he bit down on his mouthpiece. He cracked his neck a few times before approaching the center and starting to walk Pedro down. Even at a slimmed state and Pedro being a few pounds overweight, J.J. was the much bigger fighter physically and with the added confidence, it showed. They exchanged a few love taps with Pedro working the body very well.

Using his quick feet, J.J. was able to turn Pedro around a few times, confusing the kickboxer with a few level changes to make him respect J.J.'s wrestling. J.J. started to get into a rhythm of throwing the jab before going for the take down attempt but easing up upon entry just to keep Pedro honest.

Pedro was able to put together a few combinations, landing some flush as he got more and more amped up.

"Bitch," he seethed behind his mouthpiece as J.J. caught him on a counter. He unleashed another flurry of punches but J.J. quickly wrapped him up.

The intensity continued to rise as the shots started landing more and more. J.J. was able to take Pedro down but given that both he and coach Zimmerman wanted to work on their striking, he relented and allowed Pedro to get back up.

A visibly frustrated Pedro started feinting with the kicks a bit more, incorporating his kickboxing skills into the last half of the round. He landed a few front kicks, knocking J.J. off balance. He appeared to have wobbled J.J. a bit with another front kick but just as he went in for a left hook, J.J. ducked and threw an absolute of a prayer with his right hand that landed flush.

All you heard was a big thud as Pedro's body dropped on the canvas.

......

"I'm going to fucking sue your ass!"

"If I see you, it's on sight bitch!"

"Ain't nobody in your fucking family safe!"

J.J. continued to scroll through his messages as they never ceased to stop. Once they stopped texting him, they would hit him on his social media instant messages. When that wasn't enough, they took to his Instagram page comment section to completely shit on him and warn off other potential customers.

Pedro and J.J.'s little sparring session had resulted in Pedro suffering a mild concussion, causing them to cancel his upcoming fight. He had plenty of time to recover and be healthy in time for the scheduled three-round bout but after a fight gets knocked down in a sparring session against a fitness trainer, it was probably the wise decision.

Nevertheless, Pedro's manager and entire camp was furious. It had been weeks since the incident but they were unrelenting, with Pedro's brother even threatening to shoot him. J.J. had watched one too many Narcos episodes and wasn't willing to entire dismiss the threat. He was back in Miami and trying to get his business back together while surviving the onslaught of negative recruiting that Pedro's people were spewing at any and every potential customer they ran across.

"You have to let that thing go," Sarah approached J.J. on the bench, "I thought you came out to forget about this stuff."

"It's hard," J.J. held his phone up, "If I could punt my phone for a day, I'd love it. I'd go crazy but I'd love it."

"It's off for me at eight," Sarah explained, "I go on Do Not Disturb, let it charge in the kitchen and that's it. I go in my living room, meditate for about 30 minutes, take a hot bath after that and then I'm in bed. Every night for like the past ten years, you should try it."

"My night gets started at eight," he shook his head, "Between the clients and this and fixing the shit with Pedro, not enough hours in a day."

"Speaking of this," Sarah took a seat, "I spoke to Davis, he's holding a spot but he's not going to do for it very long."

"I don't know," J.J. sighed, "You don't think it'll look bad?"

"How?"

"I knock out a client," J.J. scoffed, "And a few weeks later, I start competing? It's going to look like I went in there trying to knock his head off and that wasn't the case."

"But you did knock him out," she insisted, "You knocked out a professional MMA fighter without any striking training and your wrestling is literally elite and you're getting better with your grappling, it's only a matter of time."

"I don't know," J.J. had grown tired of competing when it came to wrestling. It ended up being a seven-year sprint with him simply trying to catch his breathe but this felt different, this felt peaceful.

"Give him a few fights," Sarah conceded, "Not even real fights, just exhibitions. Move around, throw a few punches, get hit a few times and find out if this is for you."

"It can't hurt, right?"

Topic author
Soapy
Posts: 7018
Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 18:42

To Live and Die.

Post by Soapy » 17 Aug 2020, 13:03

Taking a few more bites out of his Tupperware container, Ryan quickly cleaned up his workspace as he saw the sea of bodies walking past him. He unplugged his laptop from his monitor as he rushed over to join them as they entered the frigid meeting room.

"You have to check out the new Vietnamese spot by Kennedy," said one of the meeting attendees as she took a seat, "The pho is to die for and they even come with spring rolls so it's pretty filling."

"Not on Taco Tuesday though," said John, the guy sitting at the head of the table, "I'm sorry, certain traditions need to be respected."

"100 percent," chimed in somebody else, "We're all good?"

Ryan kept his head down as the meeting commenced, with the team quickly going through the various talking points in their agenda. Part of him wished that playful banter might come up and they would get off topic and the meeting time would run out but not today as the attention was soon on him

"Where are we with Greyson?"

"He's ready to sign," Ryan cleared his throat, trying to lead with good news first.

"Against who, though?"

"Hasn't like the last two fighters pulled out?"

"Yes," Ryan explained, "Jason tweaked his knee and said he's out, I'm still trying to see if we can get Henrique into the country, he's having issues at the border."

"Jesus," Marissa scoffed as she rolled her eyes, "We might as well move him out and bring in my girl Nadia. She's ready to fight and we need to fill this card out, we're four weeks away."

"Come on," John pressed, "We don't have anyone else at 155? I like this Greyson kid, I want to see him fight."

"Well, Jason's trainer actually recommended somebody else."

"Jason is out of Davis MMA right?"

"Yeah," Ryan nodded, "They have this kid........Jean-Jacques DuBois."

"That's the kid that knocked out Mo's boy right?" Mike laughed.

"That's the one," Ryan shifted in his seat, "Championship level wrestler, I think he went undefeated as a junior and he's been looking good so far."

Ryan frantically went through his notes. Truth be told, he hadn't done much follow up on Jean-Jacques DuBois apart from the conversation with his coach. Instead, he was focused on getting Henrique to fight Greyson Baker on the upcoming Dana White's Contender Series card. He spent all night and morning finding out as much as he could about DuBois because simply put, he didn't know of any other fighters to recommend.

"How good?"

"He lost his first fight at 170," Ryan answered, "Undefeated outside of that, went back down to 155 and has just been mowing through people."

"How many pro fights?"

"He's an amateur," Ryan replied.

"Wow," Marisa chuckled.

"I don't know about that," Pete interjected, "This isn't supposed to be amateur hour, Dana made that clear. I don't think he's going to be happy with us just throwing any swinging dick out there, amateur record be damned."

The constant scrutiny had started to get to Ryan. He had thought that he had landed a dream job but he often found himself in this position and he wished he could just go back to managing a few fighters and running a gym alongside his father.

"He was supposed to be an Olympian," Ryan fired back, "From speaking to coach Davis, he even got an invite and all but turned it down. So yeah, he's a bit raw but he's going to be an elite wrestler and that's better than just getting some guy with a few pro fights."

"That's a good point," John swayed his head from side to side, "My problem is even if he is good enough to beat Greyson..."

"He is," Ryan quickly shot back.

"Is he going to be ready to fight in the UFC with one pro fight?" John finished his sentence.

"The way I look at it," Ryan sat upright, "We have a chance to build a relationship with someone that is going to be a player at 155. It might be for LFA, it might be for Bellator but I have no doubt that he's going to be a pro. Do we want to start building that relationship now or in a few years when he's got ten wins, maybe even a belt and is asking for a shit load more of money?"

"I like your thinking," John smiled, "Send me over his tape, I'd like to have this card finalized by end of business tomorrow."


Topic author
Soapy
Posts: 7018
Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 18:42

To Live and Die.

Post by Soapy » 17 Aug 2020, 13:04

[where my banner at baze]

Image

Image

User avatar

djp73
Posts: 5347
Joined: 27 Nov 2018, 13:42

To Live and Die.

Post by djp73 » 17 Aug 2020, 13:50

this game any good?
Post Reply