Sitting alone at the venue, I watched as calmly as I could. My hands were clammy. I was not fighting but I have something at stake, this guy had beaten our champ twice and been very arrogant. Of course, I cannot really say I am right they are arrogant, it is very easy to mistake confidence with arrogance when you are at the top of ladder. Everyone below you will always see you as aloof and outright arrogant when you speak of what you are going to do and achieve them.
I had not realized my arms are twisted behind me. I was straining in agony? Or is it as a twined string about to break and snap. Unleashing a tremendous amount of energy bound up into action when released. Yes. I know it is over dramatic. But when you don't even realize you are straining from someone else's effort just to keep your head ion place from the barrages heading your way from all angles you had thought you already anticipated.
This guy beat our champ, he was and probably is one of the best. You can never really say someone is the best since there will always be someone else in the future to take the mantle. Right at this moment it is Alex Pereira. Undisputed. For how long? We will not know if we stop time and get rid of all contenders. The wheel wills what the wheel wants. Robert Jordan. It will be in Alex's waist till someone else comes along and takes that belt from them.
I am feeling like I am on that competition vibe at the moment. It must be the active management I have found myself in lately.
Speaking to a friend I had not seen for a long time. The first question asked was, will Rob beat this new guy. The new champ. Well I know from watching the fight that's unfolded I think they need to work on their ground game. But of course like time we do not know how it will unfold in the future. It is all in the wind, they say. Or the wheel wills what the wheel wants. We mere mortals, both of us, do not have that precognition for the future.
Hard work pays off, but a strong punch sure does a good job of wiping off the work done to get where you are. The split second moments where at some unforeseen angle the hit arrives and connects. I would like to think it is easy to see them all coming, but as an outsider looking in, it all looks so easy and predictable. I was wound up like a well oiled wind up clock, and I am just watching. I cannot fathom what it would be like to be in the arena with the deafening crowd and the pressure one feels from their opponent wanting to knock you off your feet.
I say to the new champ. Congratulations! You deserve the win. After all you knocked the consciousness out of the other guy. Your story is now written in every ones memory. Stored there until you are faced with a new challenge. Savor it champ.
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