Fighter's Brew – S2: E4 (Audio + LMA Transcript) (Patreon)

• Fighter's Brew

[Note: Read the manga images from right to left.]

Yudai is warming up with Furuya. Take is helping Meguru with his gloves.

Take asks Meguru, "Yudai's next opponent is the guy you fought in the freshman tourney, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Meguru answers. "His conditioning and pressure were incredible. He comes out swinging hooks, and even when I broke his takedowns, he'd push me around with his power. He was really tough. He ended up winning that tournament. Yudai has a really tough fight."

"How's your elbow?" Furuya asks Yudai.

"No problem," he answers.

"Match 36," the announcer calls. "Lightweight division, second round. In the red corner from Fighter's Brew: Yudai Kitamura. And in the blue corner, from Team Nelson, Akira Tachibana."

The fighters touch gloves, and the match begins. Tachibana starts out swinging hooks. Yudai blocks and stays in range, then times a right straight and drops Tachibana.

"No pain," Yudai thinks as he looks at his right elbow.

The ref starts the count, but Tachibana quickly gets up.

"It's a good thing he connected," Maria says. "That would've been bad if he whiffed it."

"I guess I didn't put enough weight into it," Yudai thinks. "Either way, I have to finish him."

Undeterred, Tachibana tries to overwhelm Yudai. Yudai lands a jab.

"I'll finish him now," he thinks.

"No, Yudai!" shouts Meguru.

Yudai misses, and his elbow hyperextends. Tachibana drops down for a tackle. Yudai sprawls, but Tachibana powers through to put him on his back.

"He did that to you, too, Meguru?" asks Take.

"Yeah. He crushed me with power and wrestling after that," Meguru answers.

Yudai swings for an armbar from guard. Tachibana escapes. Yudai jumps to his feet, but Tachibana grabs him from behind. Yudai punches him until there is an opportunity to turn around. A sharp pain shoots through Yudai's arm.

Yudai tosses Tachibana with a hip throw. Yudai thinks about going for a double wrist lock, but the pain in his elbow prevents him. Tachibana creates space to get up, but Yudai secures an arm triangle and pins him back to the mat.

The referee watches carefully but then abruptly stops the match. The audience is confused until they realize Tachibana is unconscious. Yudai wins.

Yudai shouts with joy, then makes eye contact with Takashi. If Takashi wins his next match, he'll meet Yudai in the semi-finals.

Furuya sends Yudai to the medic's table to be checked out.

The medic clears Yudai but warns him, "If it really starts to hurt, you should forfeit the next match."

As the doctor finishes with Yudai, Takashi knocks his opponent out with a left high kick. The match lasted less than a minute. Takashi countered the tackle with a kick.

Maria pulls Take aside.

"He can't throw right straights anymore," she tells him. "Plus, there's the damage he took from that kick in the first round. Tell Kenichiro-kun to advise him to forfeit the next match."

"But he'll be in the finals if he wins again," Take says. "It's not like he took any damage to the head."

"Take-chan, his next opponent is Takashi Yamabuki. That's the worst match-up for him right now. If Yudai can't bring the fight to the mat, he'll keep taking kicks to his injured elbow. I'm sure Kenichiro-kun knows this."

Furuya is walking Meguru to the mat.

"Ogasawara has fought seven times under shooto rules," he tells Meguru, "but my guess is his ego will have him sticking to grappling."

But Meguru is too worried about Yudai to pay attention.

Meguru steps onto the mat.

"Aikawa," Yudai says.

"Yea?" Momoko answers.

"After the match is over," Yudai continues, "tell Meguru not to worry about me, will you?"

Furuya tells Meguru, "Keep the fight standing this time! Don't let him take you down."

"Right!" answers Meguru.

"Meguru!" Maki shouts, "Left mid, or else!"

"She's threatening me before my match?" a frightened Meguru thinks.

"I won't lose to the same opponent twice," thinks Kiyoshi.

The match begins, and Kiyoshi immediately shoots for a takedown. Meguru sprawls. Kiyoshi drops to guard and sweeps Meguru.

[Since amateur shooto doesn't allow strikes on the ground, going to your back is not nearly as risky as in professional MMA. Grapplers who are confident off their backs are willing to transition from takedown to a sweep off their back.]

"Since he doesn't care about being on his back," Maria says, "he has a lot of options to take Meguru down."

Meguru spins to get to his feet, but Kiyoshi counters with an arm-in guillotine. He then uses the grip to sweep Meguru to get back on top.

[You can use submissions for sweeps if you've sealed off one of their limbs or if defending the submission occupies their limbs.]

"Create space!" Urasawa yells. "He can't submit you if you create space."

Meguru wedges his knee between himself and Kiyoshi to escape the choke.

[A submission seals off a part of the opponent's body. Creating separation breaks that seal.]

"He let him get out to conserve energy," Maria says. "He can afford to do that because he's on top."

Meguru gets to half-guard.

"That was easy," he thinks.

Meguru grabs Kiysho's arm for an arm drag and tries to take his back, but Kiyoshi shakes him off to get back on top.

Meguru swings for an armbar but Kiyoshi escapes.

Meguru sits up and tries to retake the back, but Kiyoshi rolls for a footlock. Fearing having his ankle snapped, Meguru jumps onto his back. Kiyoshi is back on top, racking up even more points.

[You can use a submission to reverse a position because escape often means using the ground to peel yourself off of your opponent.]

"Oh no," Furuya thinks. "Ogasawara is baiting Meguru to exhaust himself."

"Get on your feet, Meguru!" yells Furuya. "He's playing with you!"

"It's too late," Kiyoshi thinks.

Kiyoshi gives Meguru space and secures a brabo choke.

"Don't roll on your side, Meguru!" Furuya yells. "Face down and get on your knees!"

[The brabo choke is confusing to escape because often in similar situations, rolling onto your back is how you escape the choke but here, rolling onto your back is how you tighten the choke. Rolling onto your knees is how you escape.]

"He keeps giving Meguru openings to get up," Maria says, "to wear him out. A striker needs to get back to their feet, and he's using that against Meguru."

Meguru grabs Kiyoshi's leg to take him down, but Kiyoshi counters with a back crucifix choke.

"It's like a strategy game where each move forces Meguru-kun down a blind alley," Maria says. "His pride as a grappler is resting on this match. He's going to do whatever it takes to get a submission on Meguru-kun."

"Your body is stiff from the flood of lactic acid," Kiyoshi thinks. "Your lungs are screaming with every breath. You're so low on oxygen you can't concentrate. It's over."

Kiyoshi tightens the choke, but Meguru flips backward to escape and goes for another takedown.

"I gotta keep moving," Meguru thinks. "Compared to all 84 kg of Nabe-san, you're as light as a feather."

Meguru lifts Kiyoshi and runs him out of bounds.

"He's turned it around," Take says.

"Yeah, but he's totally spent," Maki says.

"Yes, but Ogasawara is also discouraged," says Maria.

"Why can't I submit him?" Kiyoshi thinks.

"Restart from standing position," the ref announces.

Meguru struggles to get up.

"My arms feel like lead," Meguru thinks. "If he takes me down, I don't think I'll be able to get up."

"He's tired too, Meguru!" yells Urasawa.

"If I can't beat him on the ground, I have to knock him out," Meguru thinks.

Meguru charges with a one-two, but Kiyoshi backs up.

"He's gonna run out the clock," Take says.

Maki is annoyed. "He's pulling back, Meguru!" she yells. "Use a left mid kick!"

"But then he might take me down," Meguru thinks.

"He's not running away," Maria says. "He's waiting for a chance to take Meguru down."

Kiyoshi shoots, but Meguru sprawls. Kiyoshi gets underneath Meguru and applies a heel hook submission. Meguru pulls his leg out, only to be taken down.

Meguru tries to get up, but Kiyoshi takes his back and secures a choke.

"I'll finish him this time," Kiyoshi thinks.

But being so slippery with sweat, Meguru slips out of the choke and reverses to get on top.

Meguru backs out of Kiyoshi's guard and stands up.

"Was I always this determined?" Meguru thinks.

"Attack, Meguru!" yells Furuya.

Meguru throws a slow jab. He can barely keep his hands up.

"He's reduced to jabbing," Kiyoshi thinks.

Kiyoshi tries to time the jab and level changes. Meguru also changes levels and hits Kiyoshi with his lunging karate punch. Kiyoshi drops to the mat.

"Down!" the ref calls.

"There's less than 40 seconds," Take says, "and Meguru is still down on points."

"Meguru-kun still has a chance," says Maria, "because his opponent will go for a submission until the end."

"I didn't pick up jiu-jitsu to win on points," Kiyoshi thinks.

Kiyoshi and Meguru exchange blows. Meguru lands the body jab again.

"Good, Meguru," Furuya says. "Alternate high and low."

"He's stopping the takedown by going high and low," Take says. "Looks like Ogasawara is antsy, but Meguru has his second wind."

[When it comes to strikes, it's easy to get fixated on punching only to the head but attacking the body makes grapplers cautious of lowering their height for a tackle.]

"Strikes are scary like that," Maria says. "One punch can change the flow of a fight."

"Going for finishes takes courage," Kiyoshi's coach thinks. "Kiyoshi doesn't have wrestling or judo, his style is based around finishes. He picked this tournament to test himself, but will it end here, or will he aim for greater heights?"

Kiyoshi throws an overhand and attempts to clinch. Meguru blocks with snake hands and sweeps him.

"I tripped him?" he thinks.

"Meguru, he can't defend against clinch!" Maki shouts.

[A key concept in LMA is about congruent shapes. If you're both in the same congruent stances, the lead side has access to the opponent's body. Whether it's a knee to the body or a kick to the body, you need outside foot position for the strike to land. When you're in close proximity like the clinch, having outside foot position also allows you to create an obstruction to off-balance your opponent. When you're both standing up, whether striking, tackling, or clinching, they're all battles for foot position.]

Meguru initiates the clinch and lands a knee to the body. Kiyoshi bends over from the pain. Meguru ties his neck up and lands a knee to the face.

Kiyoshi is dazed; his corner is about to throw the towel, but he insists on a takedown.

"Go for a submission until the very end," Kiyoshi thinks, "that's the kind of fighter I want to be."

They drop to the mat, but Kiyoshi can barely hang on.

"His grip is weak," Meguru thinks. "Did that knee get him?"

"Take his back, Meguru," yells Furuya.

"I can do it," Meguru thinks.

Meguru jumps on the back and secures the choke.

"Don't squeeze with your arms," Furuya yells. "Use your back muscles."

Kiyoshi is out. The referee stops the fight.

"No freaking way," Maki blurts out.

"Meguru-san turned it around," Momoko says.

"Our Meguru?" says Take.

"This is the roughest of the Kanto region prelims," Maria says, "and our Meguru made it to the final four!"

"Did I lose?" Kiyoshi asks his coach.

"Yep," his coach answers.

"Ogasawara-san," Meguru says. "Thank you very much."

Meguru kneels to shake his hands.

"Likewise," Kiyoshi says. "Thank you."

Kiyoshi gets up and walks away with his team. Tears stream down his face. His coach covers his head with a towel and comforts him.

"Stand tall, Kiyoshi," he tells him. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. You showed your potential today. You will keep growing."

"Who'd have thought Takayanagi would make it this far," Takashi's senior tells him. "You might face him again in the finals."

"He's done well to get this far," Furuya thinks, "but I dunno if his body can take much more."

"Meguru," Maki calls.

"Oh, Maki-chan!" Meguru says as he runs to her.

Maki kicks Meguru's face.

"What happened to the left mid kick?" she says.