CHAPTER 179
In the Cobra Kai locker room, the room was completely silent as they waited to be called to take to the mat for their grand final. The only sound in the room was Marcos' slightly labored breathing as he skipped from foot to foot, shadow boxing in front of the mirror to prepare himself for what was about to come. Despite the stakes of this battle both for himself and his dojo, Marcos found himself able to remain calm. Or at least as calm as he could possibly be given the circumstances. He knew that he was ready for this. He was ready for whatever Robby had to throw at him, and that thought was enough to keep the nerves at bay for now.
All of a sudden, there was a loud rap on the door, and the Cobras looked at each other, slightly confused at who exactly was bothering them at this time, less than a few minutes before Marcos was called to the mat to fight. Kenny was the one to open the door and when he did, his jaw went slack and it took him everything not to pass out on the spot. Although they had seen the notorious MMA fighter already at the opening banquet, and in the crowd at various points during the knockout stages, it was no less shocking to find none other than former UFC Featherweight and Lightweight champion Conor McGregor standing in the doorway. Despite how flabbergasted the entire room looked at his presence, McGregor was perfectly relaxed, his eyes locked on Marcos, who was standing at the corner of the room, just as shell shocked once more to be in the presence of his hero, this time not just as a fan, but as a fighter himself.
Ignoring all of the gobsmacked looks on the faces of the students and senseis in the room, McGregor calmly strided over to the teenager who was about to fight, holding out a hand for him to shake.
"Conor McGregor. Nice to meet you." He said, in the infamous Irish accent that Marcos had heard in hundreds of videos during his lifetime. Upon hearing his voice, Marcos allowed the words to seep inside him and jolt him out of his shock, raising a trembling hand to shake the former UFC champion's.
"Marcos Oliveira. Nice to meet you too." Marcos replied. "We met actually. The first night."
McGregor took a few moments to remember, but when he did, his mouth made an 'O' in realization.
"Right! At the banquet, right? I thought you looked familiar." He remarked when Marcos nodded. "I must say, when we met that night, I really didn't expect that stammering pile of nerves to even make it past the prelim, much less end up being in the final."
Marcos blushed fire engine red as he heard this, but it was clear that McGregor was just making fun of him. Still, being in the company of his childhood idol and hearing him making jokes at his expense… It was very embarrassing.
Thankfully, Kreese spared him reverted back to that stammering, bubbling idiot once more when he spoke up.
"Can we help you, Mr. McGregor? I'm really sorry but our student is fighting soon." Kreese stated. McGregor nodded.
"Right. I truly apologize for the intrusion. But Mr. Oliveira, I think you're going to want to hear what I have to say." McGregor said, looking right at Marcos as he said so. "I come here with some… extra incentive for you to go out there and win your fight tonight."
Marcos furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He had an inkling about what this could be about, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. Not before he heard the words from the man himself.
"I've been watching you fight during this tournament. You caught my eye during your quarter final fight, but I then went back and watched your prelim and round of 16 fights too. I'll admit… I'm impressed. You're very, very good, kid. So much potential for your age." McGregor said, causing Marcos to blush crimson once more.
"Thank you, sir." Marcos said, quietly beaming from the praise.
"Then I hear in an interview that you want to make it to the UFC one day. That you want to be a professional fighter. Is that true?" He asked. When Marcos nodded, McGregor chuckled once more. "Good to hear. Because when I found that out, I simply couldn't believe my luck. As you probably know, I was forced to retire a few months ago due to injury. My days in the UFC are officially over, so my team and I are now all looking for a new project. A new, young fighter that we can train out of our gym to become the future of the UFC. You don't happen to know someone who would be interested, would you?"
Marcos' mouth was gaping open and closed like a goldfish, and it took him a few moments to gather the words to respond.
"You… you're offering me to fight for your team?" Marcos stammered. Conor McGregor shook his head.
"No. Not yet anyways." McGregor said. "Remember, this gym of mine is one of the best and most exclusive in the world. We don't take just anyone. We only want champions representing us. People who have proven themselves worthy. And you can do that by going out there and winning tonight. If you manage to do so, we'll write you an official offer to come to Ireland and train at our gym. We'll set you up with some minor professional MMA organizations to build your name and reputation, and I guarantee you'll find yourself in a UFC ring one day in the next few years."
But only if Marcos managed to beat Robby right now. It was a huge challenge that Marcos had been set, but one that he had no choice but to achieve with the added motivation that McGregor had thrown into the mix.
The UFC fighter left a few moments later, Marcos standing still as a statue for a while after he left, still trying to process what had just happened. It took him nearly an entire minute for the rest of his body to finally catch up with his whirring mind. He looked down and shook his head, murmuring to himself nervously.
"No pressure…"
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With the fight officially now on the horizon, it was time for the fighters and their dojos to take to the mat and bathe in the adoration from the fully packed arena. It was Robby who had been announced to walk out of the tunnel into the arena first, and as he prepared to do so, all of Miyagi-Do standing behind him, he looked around nervously. They were in the final moments before the fight, and one Miyagi-Do member - the person in the dojo he loved and needed the most - wasn't there. She had gone to get some air a little while ago and nobody had seen her since.
It was looking more and more likely that Robby would have to take to the mat without her, but thankfully, at the last possible moment, loud footsteps behind them caused all of the Miyagi-Dos to turn around and see Tory running over to them. Relief spread across Robby's face as he saw her.
"Sorry! Sorry I'm late." She said, walking over to the rest of the Miyagi-Dos, and to Robby in particular.
"You okay?" He asked her.
"I am, yeah." She nodded, a faint smile now appearing on her face, the smallest of hints that she had taken the first steps to accepting and moving on from the heavy loss she had taken earlier that night. "Are you?"
Robby took a few seconds to answer, turning around and listening to the boisterous amount of noise that was being emitted from all of the fans in the stadium. Between the incessant 'Oliveira' chant and a fair bit of booing as Robby heard his name being announced, the hostility of the crowd towards him was evident. The crowd clearly had their child, their favorite, and unfortunately that didn't happen to be him.
"Ignore them." Tory said, reading Robby's mind as she saw the slightly troubled expression on his face. "Show them everything you've got. You do that, and I'm telling you, they'll all be your fans by the end of the fight."
Robby smiled widely at her and nodded, at that moment shockingly feeling more relaxed about the upcoming fight than he had at any point up until now. Tory was right. He had what it took to win this thing. He knew that for a fact. All he needed to do was demonstrate every technique he knew, show absolutely no fear, and the trophy would be his…
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"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, INTRODUCING THE FIRST COMPETITOR OF OUR FINAL FIGHT OF THE NIGHT! FIGHTING OUT OF MIYAGI-DO KARATE IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA! REPRESENTING THE U.S.A! ROBBBBYYYYY KEEEEEEEENE!"
Robby was the first to step onto the mat, his ears completely blocking out the hostile crowd around him. He might be the underdog in their eyes, but he didn't believe that for a second. Not anymore. He was feeling more confident than ever, not at all cocky as he knew exactly what and who he was up against, but the perfect level of trust in himself for him to not hold anything back in the fight. After Robby was on the mat, his teammates and senseis all in his corner with him, it was time for his opponent to take to the stage.
"AND HIS OPPONENT! FIGHTING OUT OF COBRA KAI KARATE, ALSO IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA! REPRESENTING THE NATION OF BRAZZZZILLLLLL! MARCOOOOOOOS OLIVEIIIIIIIIRAAAAAAAAA!"
The last time Robby had seen him was earlier that afternoon, when Marcos had been celebrating his girlfriend's massive achievement to pull off quite the upset in the girls' division, but the boy he saw walking towards the mat now was a completely different person. This Marcos was razor focused. He didn't hear a word of the 100,000 screaming and chanting his name. He could barely feel the sizable earthquake running through the ground due to the unending stomping of the fans in their frenzy. As far as Marcos was concerned, there was only 2 people in the entire world: him, and the teenager he was about to fight.
Just before Marcos stepped onto the mat, he hesitated for a moment, crouching down onto one knee and looking up at the sky. The stadium they were competing in for the final was roofless, so he had a stunning view of the constellations of stars up above him. As he gazed at all of them, he closed his eyes and whispered…
"This one's for you, mom…"