God in the Octagon

Round 7

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.- 2 Timothy 4:7

One more fight. That's all I had. Dana was not impressed with my performance and said that I had one more fight for him then I would have to get out. When I told Jenny, a wash of both joy and sadness came over her face. Without saying a word she had captured my emotions perfectly; it was sad to see my career come crashing down like this but if it was going to happen, now was the best possible time. Jon was nearly 2 years old now and I didn't want him going through life thinking of me as a fighter who had fought past his prime.But if I had only one more fight for the UFC, I was going to make a spectacular one. I had three options for who I was going to fight according to Dana White: I could have a rematch against Conor McGregor since that fight had been so controversial, I could rematch Aldo, which was a fight fans had been demanding for a little while or I could fight Dooho Choi, a very skilled fighter with a very impressive fight record of 14 wins, all via KO or TKO and 1 loss, which came from a split decision. It was the most stressful choice I had ever made in my entire fighting career. In the end, I decided I'd give the fans what the wanted. I would fight Jose Aldo for the UFC featherweight title. Despite everyone, Firas, Jenny and George advising against it, I began training camp only two months after I had my Mcgregor fight. Taking this fight meant that I broke Ronda Rousey's record for most fights in one year, which had been 6. I now was on to my seventh fight that year and from the way it was looking,everyone expected me to lose. They said that I was too old, past my prime, and that I was over exerting myself. All odds were in favour Aldo winning that fight, most saying that it would happen faster than the Rousey/Holm fight that had caused Ronda to lose her belt. Even some of my own gym members were talking behind my back about how they were going to be betting on Aldo to win with a first round stoppage. However, I remembered back to what my sensei Neil had told me back when I was training at his dojo. Whenever a student felt like that couldn't do something like 20 repetitions of a kick and that it was impossible for them to get it right, he'd always tell them "There's only one thing that's impossible, and that's beating someone who never gives up. Once you give up, even for a moment, you've lost at whatever you're doing, whether it's school, sports or a social life. That is why you should never give up." This was more relevant to me than ever before, and I knew that through hard training and a belief that God would help me, I could win. So I trained, sparred and pushed myself to my physical and mental limits. I threw up multiple times and nearly passed out after a sparring session. I wanted my last fight for the UFC to be one all of the fans remembered, as well as everyone at Tristar. I was overjoyed to hear that the event would be held in Edmonton, Alberta, which was just a half hour away from my home town. I called my parents and told them.

"That's great news, Jack!" my dad said, "But you know your mother and I wouldn't be able to make it. The tickets are just too expensive."

"Dad, you wouldn't need to worry about tickets. I can always reserve 3 of them for whomever I want. That's one for you, one for mom and one for Jenny."

"Well in that case, I'll see you on fight night son." I was overjoyed to hear him say that. It was the first time my parents would get to see me fight live.

"And son...." my dad said, right before he hung up, "I'm proud of you." This time, I knew he meant it. That night I went out for drinks with Firas. It was the first time I had been at a place that served alcohol in two years, and I decided to avoid the wine menu. It was my last cheat day before the fight, now only a month away. I order a burger and a water and Firas had a salad.

"So, do you know who's coming to your fight?" Firas asked after we had been served.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The Prime Minister is coming to see your last fight. Something about you being a canadian icon in the sport of MMA." Firas said without looking up from his salad.

"Your joking. The Prime Minister of Canada did not say that." I said sarcastically.

Firas looked up and chuckled. "I'm serious. He literally bought a backstage pass so he could tell you some big news. I can't say exactly what it is but I'm proud that you're such a good fighter man."

"Any idea what the big news was?" I asked, still not a hundred percent sold on the idea that the head honcho of Canada would come to see my last fight.

"Ya, but he told me I was not to tell anyone so I'm gonna listen to him since he does run the country and could probably have me arrested by CSIS at any moment. All you need to know is that he considers you to be on the same level as George St.-Pierre and Carlos Newton." Firas was a funny man. He would dangle things right in front you knowing he had the answers but not letting you in on them until the last minute. He did it in training all the time, whether it was learning a new submission or revitalizing a new technique, he always held the little secrets back until he knew they could be told. We finished our meal and Firas and I left to go back to our respective houses. Before I got into my car I looked back at that short haired little man. He was one of my oldest friends, and I was glad he was always in my corner.

For the next month I trained my but off to fight Aldo. On fight night, I saw my parents, my beautiful wife and amazing 2 year old son at ringside as I walked towards the ring. And to my surprise, sitting right beside Jenny, was the prime minister of Canada.

"I guess you weren't joking." I said to Firas before I was about to enter the cage. He just grinned.

The crowd was louder roared. I was having deja vu of my fight with Alex Enlund. It was round five of my fight, but it looked like there had been 100 five round slugfests in that octagon. Both of us looked like we had been hit by steam rollers. No one knew how we were standing, but we both knew. We both wanted that belt, and when two people want something, they will fight for it until one of them has it; that person is the one who wants it the most, the one who has more motivation than the other. And all it takes is one move to prove who has that motivation. For me, that was a spinning kick. I took it back to my karate roots, saw that Aldo was taking a couple steps to my left, I spun and I knocked Aldo out. That was it, 4 minutes and 13 seconds into the final championship round. It was a perfect way for me to go out; knocking out the only other featherweight champion in the world for the second time in the main event of a UFC event. In the locker rooms after the fight, the prime minister came back to meet me.

"Jack," he said, standing in the doorway of my room, "Do you you know who I am?"

"Of course I do sir. You're the prime minister." I said rising to my feet and shaking his hand. "I was told you might be here tonight. What brings you to a UFC event?"

"Well I've got some big news for you. You're being inducted into the canadian sports hall of fame." My jaw almost hit the floor. Of everything that I had accomplished in sports, none of it compared to this. This one of the highest honors I had ever received. I looked over at Firas and he was just smiling. It was the perfect end to my slightly flawed career.