On October 18, 2021, UFC publicly held the inaugural Combat World Cup’s opening and drawing ceremony in New York.
The venue was set at the renowned Madison Square Garden in New York.
This place regularly hosts large-scale sports events, concerts, and political activities; one must have a certain level of prestige to hold events here.
On that day, Madison Square Garden was packed.
At 8 P.M., as a song began, a famous Arican female singer took the stage to perform.
In the midst of vigorous singing and dancing, the atmosphere at the venue instantly ignited.
At 8:10 P.M., UFC President Dana White took the stage.
Amid the cheering and applause, Dana White, with a face glowing red, began his speech.
He seldom looked so joyful, but at that mont, he indeed had every right to be proud as he had initiated this grand event in the martial arts world and was leading it.
Undoubtedly, this was a new peak in Dana White’s life.
"...In the past, UFC has always been dedicated to promoting and developing combat sports. Our competitions have been held in North Arica, in Asia, in Australia, in Europe! I have always hoped that one day, multiple countries from around the world could co together to hold a grand combat competition, and now, that wish has been fulfilled!"
"...This is the first Combat World Cup, but I believe it will definitely not be the last! In the future, the Combat World Cup will be held one after another, and it will beco the grandest event in the martial arts world!"
"...Now, let us enjoy this grand event!"
Dana White reviewed the past, looked forward to the future, and finally praised the present, passionately inaugurating this Combat World Cup.
"I declare the first Combat World Cup officially open!"
"Please welco the contestants from each country to the stage!"
In the passionate music, twenty white athletes in black tracksuits ascended the ring, with the British flag displayed on the big screen behind them.
"This is the British Team, and the team captain is Hardy, ranked number one in the UFC Middleweight!"
The announcer’s voice echoed throughout the venue, introducing to the audience.
The British Team of twenty stayed briefly on the stage, then one by one left the stage to sit in the contestants’ area.
Next was the German Team.
Then Canada, Iceland, Nigeria, Thailand...
teams successively took the stage, each team staying about a minute, while the announcer briefly introduced the team captains.
After introducing a dozen teams, the audience noticed that many team captains were UFC fighters, undoubtedly a display of strength.
"Next up is the Hua Country Team, team captain Wu Li, UFC Lightweight Champion!"
The Hua Country Team was seventeenth to take the stage, and when Wu Li’s na was announced, a tsunami-like cheer erupted from the audience.
Today, eighty percent of the audience were Aricans, so the applause for the previous teams wasn’t too enthusiastic, but this ti it was different. The audience reacted excitedly, surprising the mbers of other national teams, making them think that perhaps it was the Arican Team taking the stage.
"Wu sir is also this popular overseas!"
A few students from the Bo Yuan Martial Arts Hall whispered among themselves, taking pride in it!
mbers of the various national teams below, many looked enviously at Wu Li on stage. Apart from the ho team, the United States, Wu Li probably received the most attention.
Wu Li led his team off the stage and sat down in the contestants’ area.
After sitting down, he looked around, using system detection to rapidly collect data.
A—, A , S, S—...
At a glance, Wu Li saw a plethora of A and S grade fighters, and he couldn’t help but marvel at the Combat World Cup being a gathering of the world’s most elite fighters!
"Yo, how co he’s here?"
As Wu Li was assessing the ’enemy situation,’ Li San suddenly exclaid softly beside him.
Wu Li looked up, and on the big screen was Japan’s national flag.
One person caught Wu Li’s attention, none other than Kamino Kei, whom he had t once on a cruise, recognized as one of the strongest in the Island Country Martial Arts World.
"Isn’t he from the martial arts world?" Wu Li asked.
He had previously heard Li San briefly ntion Kamino Kei’s achievents. Like Hu Shan, he had fought for many significant figures. His claim to fa was fighting against Liu Haoran, the Sect Leader of Liu’s Baji Fist from Hong Kong, on the high seas, where he famously shattered his opponent’s skull with a heavy technique!
And now such a man was competing in a martial arts competition?
On stage, Kamino Kei seed to sense Wu Li’s gaze, turned his head, looked over, and after making eye contact, nodded and smiled.
"This ti Japan has brought quite a few strong competitors, all from the Martial Arts World," Li San said gravely.
Hongn and the Island Country Extre Organizations had already torn their faces from each other, and he naturally needed to understand the experts from that side. At this mont, he recognized several of them at a glance.
Wu Li scanned with the System Detection and besides Kamino Kei, there were four other Master Level Martial Artists practicing Island Country Traditional Martial Arts!
Among these five individuals, three had an Overall Score of S, while the other two, who mainly practiced modern combat, also had an Overall Score of S—totaling five S-ranked. Moreover, there were nine others who were rated above A!
Just from the paper strength, the Island Country Team had already surpassed the Hua Country Team.
"It seems like the Island Country has so designs on the championship," Wu Li remarked.
People from the Martial Arts World were all coming to compete in combat sports, and those were prominent nas within the Island Country Martial Arts World, usually unseen but now erging to compete, evidently not just for play.
Li San sneered, "Losing would be embarrassing."
People in their circle generally looked down on grappling competitions, finding them restrictive and encumbered with rules, dull indeed. Therefore, if these renowned martial artists from the Island Country lost in this competition, they would inevitably be ridiculed by their peers.
Wu Li curled his lip—it was precisely because many who practiced Traditional Martial Arts thought like Li San that Wu Li couldn’t invite more Hongn experts to help him compete. Otherwise, the Hua Country Team could have been even more luxurious.
Teams from various nations continued to make their entrances, and Wu Li kept a close watch.
Island Country, Russia, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Thailand—these were the teams Wu Li noted as important in his mind, each having at least three mbers with an Overall Score of S, and no fewer than six with a score above A!
Finally, amid thunderous cheers, the Arican Team appeared.
The competitors’ area perked up in spirit—undoubtedly, the Arican Team would be the strongest team in this Combat World Cup, being an all-UFC lineup!
"Welco, Arican Team!"
"The captain of the Arican Team is the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Demon King Jon!!!"
Boom!
The decibel level at the venue was nearly bursting through the roof.
Demon King Jon, one of UFC’s legendary players, he and Legendary Spider Silva were the two brightest stars of this era in the UFC!
On the P4P (pound-for-pound) rankings, Jon was currently ranked first, above Silva, making it reasonable to call him the top figure in UFC.
Jon alone ignited the entire audience, but those who followed him onto the stage were also high-profile UFC fighters:
’War Police’ Miouqi, UFC Heavyweight Champion!
’GSP’ George, UFC Middleweight Champion!
’The Notorious’ Conrad, UFC Featherweight Champion!
’Lioness’ Amanda, UFC Won’s Flyweight and Featherweight Dual Champion!
’chanical Woman’ Rossi, UFC Won’s Featherweight Champion!
A total of six current champions! And aside from them, there were many other competitors currently ranked first or second, such as the top-ranked Light Heavyweight Kermy, and the currently second-ranked Lightweight, Blood Demon Flosen...
Wu Li watched the stage, narrowing his eyes.
Those with an Overall Score above S, nine people!
The rest were all A-ranked, with the lowest score being A (16%)!
"Dream Team!"
At this mont, many people thought the sa thing. This lineup was truly the dream team.
"With this lineup, is there still suspense about the champion?"
In the competitors’ area, many team mbers couldn’t help thinking, inevitably feeling a sense of powerlessness.
Among the mbers of the national teams, UFC fighters were undoubtedly the main force, and these individuals were well aware of how formidable the people on stage were from their years competing in UFC. So, even if they were confident or arrogant, they couldn’t harbor thoughts of defeating such a team.
"How do you feel?" Wu Li asked Li San beside him.
Li San looked gravely at the Arican Team on stage. Although he didn’t have Wu Li’s System Detection, with his realm, just by observing soone’s spirit, he could generally gauge a person’s capability. The strength of the people on stage was unexpectedly formidable.
"If it were a fight to the death, with no restrictions, the two of us together could take them all out,"
Li San pondered for a mont before saying to Wu Li.
"Haha!" Wu Li couldn’t help but laugh, indeed, with weapons, it was possible.
Then he slowly restrained his laughter and looked seriously at the stage, "But right now, this is a ring competition, we need to think about how to win the championship."
"Champion? Are you serious?"
"We’re already here, of course, I’m serious."
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