I know this is a bit late, but who cares, here is part 3 of .8
My second fight was against a rather slender fighter by the name of Paul. I never managed to get his surname, so we'll keep it Paul for now.
The fight was the longest any one had that day. The fight was pretty evenly matched throughout the first 3 minutes. After attempting a sliding collar from his guard, the fight was forced off the mat and had to restart from the centre again. After a quick tussle, he ended up in my guard and I managed to pull his arm through, ready for a triangle. This is where I start to hate gi fights. He grabbed hold of my trousers, basically invalidating my attempt at winning. Soon enough, he had passed my guard and had taken side control.
As he lay there, hoping I would gas and become utterly useless, I was slowly walking my feet in to my body, ready to attempt a bridge. Soon enough, he was over and I had taken control. A poor pass to full mount later, and I was again sitting in his guard. He had also managed to nab my arm ready for an arm bar. Thankfully my time at Jujitsu has taught me the basics of arm bar escape so his attempt became null and void.
Our 3 minutes were eventually up, and it was decided that we needed another minute for the judges to decide a winner. My energy was at this point running in the red, my mouth was completely dry and I was unable to regain control of my breathing. The match restarted and I hit him as aggressively as I could. I wasn't going to let this fight carry on any longer. This would be an unwise decision because in my haste, he managed to score a kesa getame scarf hold. I was beginning to panic, I bridged over and over, I wasn't going to lose via the first ground technique I ever learnt. The bridging failed, so I used the momentum to turn into him, breaking his grip.
Taking the mount, I nuzzled underneath his arm and wrapped up his neck for the choke. One of my favourite techniques, I rarely lose once I have the choke completely applied. Lucky for Paul, the minute of extra time was up and he was saved. A few more seconds and I could have won. Slightly annoying since this is the fight that cost me the Gold Medal.
Because they still couldn't decide who should win, it was announced we would have an extra 30 seconds to fight. I couldn't believe my ears. I was absolutely exhausted. I was shaking. Hadn't I done enough? I had dominated the previous round. "Begin" was called again and I mustered all my energy to attack him. All my energy was sapped but I didn't care. I needed to win.
The 30 seconds were up so quickly. Again I had dominated the round, attacking Paul as hard as I could. The rest is evolves into a nightmare. They still couldn't decide who should win, even after 4 and a half minutes. So they announced there would be another 30 seconds, and an extra referee to officiate the fight. Both of us were in agony. We were absolutely exhausted from fighting with everything we had. I remember thinking I had to harness every last ounce of adrenaline and aggression and give it my all for those last 30 seconds.
We sat back to back, my eyes shut, concentrating on just wanting to turn and maul him. We were both technically equal, so hopefully the fight would be determined on aggression. "Begin" was called for the last time and I practically ran at him. We tussled, completely forgetting any technical prowess we had, and instead opting for brute strength. He managed to turn me, but I managed to pull him straight into my guard. Pushing all his weight onto my neck, I returned the favour on his. It became a straight fight to choke the other person out. Neither of us wanted to lose. The bean bag came whizzing past us and the fight was over.
The ref explained the fight had been so close. It was the hardest decision of the day and I was willing him to raise my hand. Alas, Paul's was raised and I had lose the fight. Looking back, I do feel it was a very equal fight, but if I had just been given a few more seconds from that 2nd round, I could have easily won the fight. I walked back to the side of the mat and tried to catch my breath, my arms shaking, my head dazed. I thought that was it for me, no more fights, so I sat down and rested...
I was wrong.
.8 Part 4 - The Bear
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