Never Say Never

Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

I’ve learnt to never judge. Over the years, as my life consumed me and I struggled through my days, I realized that I hated people who looked down upon me and my ways. Whether it was the snobby cashier at the supermarket who looked at my cut face and knuckles with disgust, or the psychologist who looked at my behavior with sympathy, they didn't know my story therefore they had no right to make assumptions. There was no space for judgement of others in my life and I was sure that every human being in this world shared my hatred of being judged.

However, sitting in this room, gazing at these fighters I can’t stop my mind from wondering about what drives these women to fighting in an underground tournament. Are they also battling family and social issues like me? Did they grow up in a bad environment, leading them to fighting illegally? Or is this something they loved to do? Too many questions, too few answers.

It’s Saturday night, the beginning of the tournament. The arena is situated beneath a massive club in the heart of the city. While the club has been designed like any other club, with the dance floor, strobe lights and fancy bar area, the real action takes place beneath it all. Mike guides us through the throngs of scantily clad bodies as they gyrate against each other. A plain metal door at the right end of the room holds a six foot, heavily muscled bodyguard. I notice that no one even gazes in the direction of the door let alone approaches it. At the time we are the only ones entering and after offering our names and my fighter number, we’re ushered in through a dimly lit hallway.

The sounds of the club drone off as we walk further down the hallway. The walls are cement and so is the floor. There is a damp smell lingering in the air. A construction elevator greets us at the end of the hallway and another giant on steroids sends us down.

I feel my eyes go wide as we descend to a stop just a level beneath the hallway. In front of us is one of the biggest underground MMA arenas I have ever seen. The place is packed to capacity and I smile as I take in the official cage used in the UFC and other legal MMA competitions. The crowd is made up of such a variety of people that you couldn’t differentiate between an accountant and a part time car thief.

Ryan holds onto my arm the entire time and I shake my head at his need to protect. We circle around the crowd, moving towards two large metal doors situated to the left of the elevator. Ryan offers our names again and we are ushered through. Mike however is forced to join the crowd as this area is cordoned off for fighters and their coaches. The doors bring us to another hallway. There are two doors on each side of the long hallway and one door at the very end of the hallway. The first door on the left, we find is the men’s locker room and the one opposite to it is the female’s. We step through the door and the first thing I realize is that the room is decently sized. There are five rows of lockers running vertically to the entrance area. The lights in the room are bright, illuminating the blue lockers. I gaze at the faces of the fighters I am being pitched against as they too scan me from head to toe. Some look with interest, others disdain and others boredom. Most of the women sitting in this room look to be under twenty five. They look hard and strong. There are only about a dozen women in the room but I can’t seem to focus on a single one.

I look away as I follow Ryan towards the back of the room where I have been allocated a changing area. I dump my bag on the long wooden bench that runs through the middle of the row. I gaze to my left finding two sharp green eyes trained on me. Her face is hard and I take note of the ugly looking scar on the side of her forehead. Her brown hair is cut close to her head and I admire the tattoo that runs up the right side of her neck. She is more built than I am and from the intensity I see in her eyes, I’m praying that she isn’t my first opponent.