[ominous music playing]
THE CAGE
[music fades out]
Explain to me exactly what happened.
I heard someone knocking.
I was here alone. Régis had gone home.
Normally, I wouldn't open the door so late but I thought it was him.
They came in right away.
We'd told them we'd be getting money from the bet.
Soon as they realized you hadn't thrown the fight,
they came straight over.
And that was that.
[sighs]
Okay. [inhales deeply] So what's the plan? Huh?
-Wait till they come back? Go to the cops? -Nothing.
I do business with these guys. I can't mess it up.
Hey! That's your problem.
-My problem is they just beat up my mom. -Don't start, Taylor!
Régis and I feel the same, okay?
Régis is doing what he can to make a living.
So no one's calling the police.
Truth is, if you'd just thrown the fight like I told you to, kid,
we wouldn't be here.
Hm?
No one would've hurt your mother.
-Don't-- -We need your help, son. Please.
[soft, melancholy music playing]
[sighs]
-How much do you owe those guys? -40,000.
-Can you ask them to give you more time? -I dunno. Maybe a month, max.
Otherwise they'll come back. Then it'll happen again.
[Boss] I talked to the head of the KSW.
This is the guy they're thinking, Ferreira.
A striker like you, and he's done Muay Thai.
He's solid, but he's coming off two losses.
He's on shaky ground. 10 years older than you.
And this would be the last fight of the guy's contract.
If he loses, he's done for.
I think he's on his last legs. You could beat him easy.
What does it pay?
It's 10,000.
What?
Okay. If I'd signed somewhere else, would it be more?
No, not really.
Even signed with the UFC, you don't get much at first.
The only way to make a lot of money with this sport is to be a star.
Get up, we're training.
One, two, three.
-[grunting] -Good.
One, two, three, four. Good.
Step back. Good, that's nice.
One, two, three.
Good job. Circle, circle, circle. Don't stay in front of me.
-Now. One, two, three, four. -[grunting]
Yeah, that's good. Again. One, two, three, four.
Good, Taylor. Okay. Let's go. One, two, three.
[coach] Put it together.
[Boss] Very nice. One, two, three. Come on, move over.
Watch your reach. One, two, three, four.
Good. Again. One, two, middle.
-[bell ringing] -Good.
It rang, we keep going. One, two, middle.
That's good. Okay, time.
Nice work.
We go again, right away.
Just a bit. Two sips, no more.
-You good, Boss? -Hey, champ.
-Okay, we set up fast. -Taylor.
-[chuckles] -Let's go.
[bell ringing]
Taylor, you with me? Yo! Come on. Good?
Okay.
All right.
One, two, three, low kick.
Good. Do it again. Hey! Focus. With me.
One, two, three, low kick. Go.
Good. That's…
Hey!
That's what happens when you drop focus. Get up. We're going from the start.
You with me?
Hey! You with me or not?
-[Boss] Yeah? Look at me. -Yeah, yeah.
We're going from the start. One, two, three.
More, come on. One, two, three, four.
Good.
One, two, three, low kick.
That's good. Now you're waking up. Circle, circle, circle. Come on.
Okay, give me your jab. Go, go, go, go, go. Good. Good.
You still loading up?
Yeah, but now I'm in a 45-day cut.
Winstrol and Clenbuterol.
Okay. So let's say you've got a fight soon. What do you do?
If the fight's last-minute, I'm pretty screwed.
It takes at least six weeks to be undetectable on anti-doping tests.
I think you should stop using that stuff.
And I think you should stop going after Elena, my dude.
Why would you say that?
It's obvious, everybody in the gym could see you looking.
I'm saying this for you. You'd be wasting your time.
Elena's a fighter. She's not gonna mess around with the gym guys.
She cares too much about her reputation.
Besides, even if she liked someone, she wouldn't act on it.
Believe me, I know.
Word of advice, forget her.
[scoffs] Whatever, man, that's the least of my worries.
[Taylor clears throat]
Why? What is it?
Look. I'll tell you but it stays between us.
You know you can trust me, I've proven that.
Come on, spill.
I need money. I need it fast.
It's for your mother, isn't it?
Yeah.
[tense music playing]
This time I need a lot.
-You guys okay? Good? -Yeah.
-Can I sit with you? -Yeah, go for it.
Oh. Hey, what's with the long faces? You two fighting?
-No, no. Of course not. -Hey, you know everything.
Are they still organizing KSW tournaments?
Yeah, absolutely.
-How much could you stand to win? -Ah, it depends.
I know the minimum is 10,000, but
after that, if you tally up bonuses, etc, could go up to 100,000.
-100,000? -100,000 bucks.
-In one tournament? -Yeah. The winner takes 100,000.
Why do you guys wanna know that?
[commentator] And he got 13 KOs, three submissions for Silva.
Oh! That's a big right hand and down goes Sudolski.
He rode that really well. Silva won’t want to let him off the hook.
Silva looking to finish him.
What a miraculous recovery, like Lazarus, Sudolski got up.
He takes it right through the middle with the uppercut.
Sudolski has to go down.
-And it’s done, it’s a knock-down! -[bell ringing in video]
BOSS, ARE YOU WATCHING THE FIGHT TOMORROW?
HI BOSS…
SORRY FOR TEXTING SO LATE
BUT CAN WE MEET TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING?
[phone clicks off]
[Boss] Souleymane, you have to fight in France.
People wanna see you here, not just in the States.
Yeah, I know. We gotta box at least once a year in France.
One fight per year in France minimum, please.
-[Souleymane] We'll set it up. -Yeah.
-Yeah, Taylor? -Can I talk to you for a second?
Come in. I want you to meet an old friend.
Souleymane Cissokho. One of our greatest boxing champs.
Hey there, champ. All good?
-Congrats on your career. -Thanks. Thanks.
-Boss. I'll leave you. See you later. -Thanks. You're always welcome.
-I appreciate it. -See ya.
So what's up, Taylor?
It's late. You should be resting.
[clears throat] Yeah, I know.
What's going on?
I really need some money.
I looked into it, and saw there are tournaments at KSW.
[chuckles]
No, that's not a good idea. Forget it.
Okay.
[inhales]
And if I still wanna do it?
Why would you wanna do a tournament where you could seriously injure yourself?
And there are no belts to win?
When you and I are supposed to be training for Ferreira.
-Where's this coming from? -December's too far off.
I can't wait. I need to get the money now.
Taylor, that's not how this works.
Listen.
The next KSW tournament in your weight class isn't until next year.
So you can forget about it.
There's one in a month.
-A what? -There's one in a month.
Look.
That one isn't your weight class. Those guys are 20 pounds heavier than you.
-That can't happen. -You gonna help or not?
Help with what?
To do three fights in the same night
against guys 20 pounds heavier, loaded up on steroids? No.
-I've got to win that money. -Tell me why you need--
Because my mom's in trouble!
[emotional music playing]
What kind of trouble?
It's her boyfriend. He owes some dangerous people.
They have a month to get 40,000.
They've already attacked her once.
I know… I know it's dangerous.
And I know I'm putting my career on the line. I get it. All of it.
But I've got no choice, understand?
Boss?
I imagine you've already made up your mind?
Yeah.
But it's even riskier if I do it without you.
[emotional music ends]
[grunting]
If you do the tournament, that means three fights,
each three rounds of five minutes, same night.
Quarter final, semi-final, final.
I don't think you realize physically what that means.
The guys you're going to take on are all heavier than you.
Obviously, we won't be cutting.
Eat. A lot. If you gain weight, all the better.
They're more powerful than you are. So you make up for it with cardio.
You've gotta be faster and sharper with more stamina.
And when we're finished your physical prep, we move on to the next stage.
What's the next stage?
Three fights per training session, like the tournament.
Only with guys heavier than you. Back to it.
[exciting music playing]
Come on, give it your all. Let's go, move, move, move.
Don't give up, keep that power to the end.
More power, come on. You're only giving 40%.
When I say speed up, you hit as fast as you can. No stopping.
Turn off your brain, and gimme more power.
All right, speed up. Go, go, go, go, go. Come on.
Give me everything you've got, more power. Come on.
Everything you got. Everything. Don't let up until I say. Stop.
Let's go, move them faster.
Let's go, Taylor. Step on it, give me everything you got.
That's not enough. You've got to go faster, move, move!
We want more than that. More, more.
Power to the end. To the end.
That's good.
[Boss] Yeah, that's good. Good.
You're up, Damien.
Swap in right away, Erwan.
Yes, that's good. Come on, let's go.
-[coach] That's great. Nice work. -[Boss] Swap in, Jordan.
[coach] That's it, Kimura, engage your core.
-[Boss] Damien. Swap in. -[coach] Come on.
Good. Very good.
Yeah. Nice. That's great.
Very good. That's enough, Paulin.
'Kay Paulin, swap out. Let's go, come on.
Good. Nice.
-[coach] Keep pushing, yeah! -[Boss] Good.
And we're done. That was very good. Nice job.
-Well done, guys. -[coach] Nicely done. Hands up.
-You are the champ. -[Boss] Put your hands in the air.
[music ends]
Do you wanna walk me to my car?
Okay.
So how's all the prep going?
It's going all right.
I know it'll be tough, but I wanna see it through.
Do you want to talk about us?
No, I mean, it's fine.
I won't lie, at first I didn't know what you were playing at.
But Niko explained it to me.
And honestly I get it.
Okay. What do you think you get?
I understand it can't be easy to be a pretty girl in a boys' club.
-Right? -Mm.
You know it's exactly because of guys like Niko that I have to make excuses.
So yeah, I've always said I don't date fighters
because I don't want them shooting their shot.
When you say no to a guy who's full of ego and testosterone,
it feels like you've offended a child.
And sometimes if I'm lucky, he'll become extra unpleasant.
[gentle music playing]
But with you it's different.
Does that make sense?
See you tomorrow?
See you tomorrow.
[music fades out]
All right.
One, two. That's good.
One, two, three, middle. Yes, that's good. All right.
Yes!
All right, back to center. Back up.
One, two. One, two.
Yeah. One, two, three, four.
Again. One, two, three, four.
That's real good. That's enough.
[panting]
What do you mean? We just started.
-You've still got energy? -I'm boiling, yeah.
Well, it's your lucky day.
'Cause I've got a surprise.
[laughs softly]
-You good, champ? -Yeah, you?
-Coach. -How's it going?
-[Boss] This is Abdoul. -No need for that.
-The Lazy King. -How are ya, bro?
-You good? -Yeah man, chill.
Shit.
Look, I know our first meeting wasn't the best.
So when your coach told me what you were coming for…
I thought it'd be a good idea to come give you a hand with Abdoul.
-I mean, I don't even know what to say. -[chuckles] Thank him.
[dramatic music playing]
[Boss] Ciryl's gonna watch your movement. Your positioning.
After that, grapples with Abdoul.
All right. Listen and watch.
Full range of motion. Okay? Keep moving.
Yeah. Now, add some unpredictability.
Get in my head. Psych me out.
[Boss] Just like that!
Tell him about your fight with Francis Ngannou.
Francis could put you down in one. He hits you once, it's over. Go.
Yes. There it is.
Right, that's it! Next stage.
Now go ahead, and show him how to escape from a body lock.
Yeah, take me down, come on.
On all fours. One hit.
Then… You roll… grab the heel.
And I pull while pushing with the hands.
-Got it, Taylor? Go again. Your turn. -[Abdoul] Right. I'll take you down.
Push. Grab hold of me. Catch the heel. Yeah.
[straining] Man, nice.
You'll have to take on guys much bigger than you in Poland.
Yeah.
Not bad. Taylor, don't be impressed by them, just get in there.
[Cyril] Good, make me think. Go.
-Gonna hit you back. Come on. -Right.
When you're over there, you're gonna get hit for sure.
Ciryl, tell him about when Tuivasa got you. What do you do in that situation?
Don't worry, that's number one. You've trained for this.
If your vision's blurry, listen to your coach.
The green zone, it's either back here
or it's right up here.
You buy yourself time. Just stall.
-Okay. -Keep stalling. Keep going.
-Then you're back. -Okay.
All right. We set the scene. We're here.
-Boom, I hit you. Then, stall. -[Boss] Good.
-Yes. Nice. -[Cyril] Good, yeah.
[Abdoul] Go for a takedown.
I stick my ass out. I grab your head.
Roll back. And squeeze.
-Okay, your turn now. -Yeah.
[Abdoul] Looking for a takedown.
Coming in. Hips back.
Squeeze. Boom. And squeeze tight now.
-Really nice. -Yeah. Good.
-Thanks. -[Taylor] Thanks, Abdoul.
Oss.
-Thanks, Abdoul. -The boy's ready, yeah.
[Taylor] Thanks, coach.
WARSAW POLAND
[tense music playing]
[crowd cheering]
Ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
-One, two. -[grunting]
Hey. One, two, three. That's good.
Yes. Good. Do it again, Taylor.
Yeah. Great.
-One, two, three, four. -[grunting]
-Yes. Good. -[MC] This is it.
And we're hitting it off right now.
With our first fight of the evening.
Niko. Can you take my phone and turn on the sound?
-Yeah. -Thanks.
-What's your code? -33-12.
[chill hip-hop beat playing]
[MC] Weighing only 80.2 kilograms,
Taylor "The Outsider" Keita!
[all cheering]
Great to have you all with us. We've got something special for you tonight.
It's the KSW middleweight championship for under 185 pounds.
And there's a young new star in the mix.
It's an unusual sight. But imagine my surprise seeing Taylor Keita here tonight.
He's basically a welterweight, which maxes out at 170 pounds.
[Antoine] Now he's fighting in the 185 class.
He'll have to face off against competitors who have an easy 20 pounds on him.
There's going to be a clear physical gap between him and his opponent.
-All right, Taylor. Let's go. Come on. -It'll be tough.
This is, of course, Taylor's second fight with the KSW.
If you'll remember, he managed to pull off a draw against Ibrahim Ibara.
Ibrahim was expelled from the KSW after that.
And now Taylor finds himself back in the cage.
This will be the opening fight tonight. And let's head into the ring.
[MC] And his opponent
Coming from Russia,
weight at 84 kilograms,
Alexander "The Russian Terror" Volkov.
[Bilal] Oh, shit. That guy's got 20 pounds on him.
-He's a beast. -He's a hefty boy.
[Boss] Don't take your eyes off him.
It'll be just like we practiced. He knows he's bigger than you are.
He'll go for your legs to bring you down. He'll try.
-You know what you have to do. Okay? -Yeah.
-What? -Yeah.
Go. Take him out fast.
[MC] Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for these two fighters!
[cheering loudly]
[phone dinging]
[Bilal] Let's go, Taylor. Come on.
Come on. You can do it, buddy, I know you can.
[Antoine] As we get underway,
let me remind you that middleweight is not Taylor Keita's natural weight class.
Look at the size difference!
[Taylor L] It's clearly visible and underlines what we were saying earlier.
It's obvious to everyone. It should be an interesting fight.
We've got someone on one side who's going to try to wrestle, the Russian,
and then a striker on the other, that's Taylor.
This substantial weight difference could be useful to Taylor,
if he uses his speed and agility.
All right, Taylor, let him come to you like we said!
Ready? Ready? Fight!
-Yeah, let's go Taylor! -Woo!
[Taylor L] And we're off.
[grunting]
[Taylor L] Knee strike!
-[all cheering] -[Antoine] Incredible!
All right, like that!
Whoa!
-What a knock-out from Taylor. Incredible! -That knee strike!
-Oh! -Oh, bro. I can't believe it, man.
[Taylor L] That knee strike came out of nowhere!
[Antoine] He absolutely destroyed the Russian.
I just can't believe it, man!
[crowd cheering]
[Boss] That's what I'm talking about.
[Elena] Yeah!
[Bilal] Whoa! Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, pow.
-It was clean, cool, efficient. -That's crazy.
Hell yeah!
[Taylor L] My goodness, Taylor…
You couldn't ask for a better start, just wow.
[Taylor L] Just incredible work. And even better, he didn't take any hits.
No wasted energy in this first fight. An incredible first round.
[Antoine] He's ready for the rest of the tournament.
This is what we call in the biz an easy money night for Taylor.
The beginnings of one.
-You all right? -[Antoine] Indeed.
-A very strong start for Taylor Keita. -[both] Wow!
-[man] Shit, man! -[Bilal] Who's he up against next, then?
Mamaiev.
-Oh fuck, Mamaiev. -Mamaiev, isn't he one of Khabib's guys?
-Mamaiev's a problem, for sure. You know? -Yeah, he'll be a problem.
-If he started well… -Yeah, that's right, he's with Khabib.
[man] Shit, man. That's rough.
[Bilal] Hope the second round is the same. Inshallah, let's pray for that.
[velcro ripping]
-That was better than we hoped for. -[Taylor] Yeah.
I just did what I had to. And it felt good. [chuckles]
-Niko, would you pass me my phone? -[Boss] No, no. Hey. Forget it.
-Stay focused on the fight. -No, he's right.
He should have his phone.
A certain someone's blowing it up. Must be important.
WE'RE ALL PROUD OF YOU! BE CAREFUL! I MISS YOU!
You serious? You're gonna give me some jealous shit now?
We'll talk about it later. Okay?
What's going on? What are you two playing at?
Nothing. Don't worry.
Yeah, it's nothing. We're joking, Boss.
Well, knock that shit off.
[intense music playing]
[crowd cheering]
[Antoine] And here's Mamaiev, making his way down for the first semi-final.
When I say we've got problems…
[Antoine] Mamaiev hails from Russia but is of Chechnyan origin.
And he had the privilege of training with Khamzat Chimaev
in the lead-up to this tournament.
[Taylor L] Now that's a training partner.
We got to see Mamaiev come out on top thanks mainly to his wrestling.
So that'll be the thing Taylor needs to watch out for this time around.
Not to mention, again, the weight difference between the two.
There was already a substantial gap in Taylor's first fight.
But now, with Mamaiev? It's closer to 30 pounds.
[all groaning]
It's not gonna be easy.
[Taylor L] Absolutely. This man is strong.
He's got quite the impressive corner.
Yeah?
But I've got you, coach.
[crowd chanting] Mamaiev! Mamaiev!
And for this first semi-final, facing Taylor, he is coming from Russia.
Weighing 84.2 kilograms on the scale.
Please give it up for Arif Mamaiev!
[crowd cheering]
Ergo Arena, ladies and gentlemen,
we are officially entering the semifinals of our competition.
And here we go!
[ref] Fighters, come to the center.
Protect yourself at all times.
Follow my instructions.
Make it a clean fight, respecting the rules.
If you want to touch gloves, it’s now.
Go back to your corner.
Ready? Ready? Fight!
-Come on! -All right!
[Antoine] In one corner, the striker, Taylor…
[Taylor L] He needs to stay out of the grapple range.
-[Antoine] Whoa! -Aw, damn.
Keep your distance from him!
[Antoine] We can hear Taylor's coach urging him to keep out of Mamaiev's reach.
[Bilal] Don't wrestle.
Keep going, Taylor. Push, push, push!
[Antoine] Wow! It would seem Mamaiev isn't just a wrestler after all.
Oh, fuck! Get up.
Back up! Put your back on the cage!
[Antoine] Mamaiev doing a great job.
You have to get back up. Come on, come on!
Use the cage to get up! Get outta there!
[Antoine] Great headlock.
Taylor's gotta watch out, this is potentially dangerous for him.
-Look at Taylor, the boy's in pain! -[Taylor L] Here come the hits.
Mamaiev's playing all the right notes,
getting him in a headlock, and then going to town.
[Antoine] Our hero from France is getting pummeled!
Get up, get up.
[Taylor L] …their weights to really lean on him.
[Antoine] Ground and pound from Mamaiev.
He's got Taylor back in a headlock.
Get out, you gotta get outta there! Come on, let's go!
[Taylor L] …is that not only does he have to get himself up,
but he has to lift Mamaiev off him too.
Oh my goodness!
-[Antoine] He got some air. -[Taylor L] Incredible power from Mamaiev.
We could feel it in that grab.
Get outta there. Come on, push out.
[Antoine] Being on the defensive must be frustrating for Taylor.
-[Taylor L] Oh yeah. -[Antoine] He tricked Mamaiev.
[cheering]
Stop!
[Antoine] That's the end of the first round!
[Taylor L] That round goes to Mamaiev.
All right, not bad.
[all chattering]
[Antoine] That ground and pound, the hits he can inflict can be brutal.
Let's listen in to Taylor's coach.
Okay, how you doing?
-I can't beat him on the ground. -Yeah. No surprise there.
A beard and no mustache usually means a good ground game.
-So we just stick to the plan, okay? -[breathing heavily]
-Okay. -Run when he tries to bring you down.
And you stay on your feet. Okay?
You're better than him. You can do it. Yeah? Go get him.
Maybe he'll KO him. That'd be nuts.
You know, Mamaiev, he needs to get Taylor on the ground.
If he doesn't, it's more complicated for him.
[Antoine] Taylor's in a bit of a tricky situation now
because he lost the first round.
As you know, the fight will take place over three rounds of five minutes each.
And if he loses the second, he has to win decisively the third.
[Taylor L] That might be a huge issue for Taylor.
He really needs to pull out all those stops to win this round.
[exciting music playing]
Very nice dodging from Taylor to start out.
[all cheering]
Nice hook.
[Taylor L] He's taking advantage. There it is! Another hit.
[Antoine] A good start. But he has to pick up the pace.
[all cheering]
[Taylor L] It's a ground and pound, which puts Taylor in a favorable position.
Oh! He's trying the Kimura counter.
[Antoine] Taylor needs to break it.
[Taylor L] Mamaiev's not out of this yet.
[Antoine] The pressure he's exerting on Taylor's arm must be enormous.
[Taylor L] There we go. He blocked the arm. Stop the pressure.
Taylor's leaning into the body shots to get Mamaiev to let up.
Keep going. Come on. Keep going.
[Taylor L] Look at that, he just snuck out of the grapple!
[Antoine] Oh, and excellent defense!
[man] That's what I'm talking about.
-[Antoine] He’s on it! -[Taylor L] Putting everything into it!
-[Antoine] Big shot to the head there! -Stop.
Yeah! We got it.
[Taylor L] That was amazing.
-[Antoine] It's a whole different Taylor! -He must be tired.
He's gotta recover fast. Every minute counts, you know.
[Antoine] That said, you can see the toll it's taking on Taylor.
His body is telling a different story.
[sighs]
You can't show him you're tired. Get up, come on!
You're looking good out there.
What are you doing? Are you scared to get in there?
What are you talking about? Shut up and ice him.
Taylor, you know you won this round. Huh? That's good.
I know you're tired. He's exhausted too. You can see that, right? You did that.
Yeah, I know.
He's gonna try to get you on the floor. Okay? And you'll stay on your feet.
-Yeah. Okay. -[Boss] You're ready.
-All right. Get him. -[Niko] Go.
Don't be afraid of his wrestling, man. You gotta get in there.
-Yeah, I know. -[clicks tongue]
Come on, keep him at a distance.
Fight!
[Antoine] We're off for the third and final round.
[all urging]
[inspiring music playing]
[Antoine] Taylor Keita needs to push on, but you can tell he's exhausted.
[Taylor L] He is tired, but that's true for both of them.
That's good.
[Antoine] Mamaiev charging in again.
We have contact. Taylor can't let himself be brought down.
[Taylor L] Raw power from Mamaiev.
Underhook. Arm under the armpit.
[Antoine] …press the attack. If he's got any energy left, now's the time.
Control his hands!
[Taylor L] Taylor's doing everything he can, despite his obvious exhaustion.
Taking control of both arms.
Nice. It's not bad in terms of defense.
It's working, but Mamaiev, he's still just using his body weight effectively.
Oh!
[Antoine] With a counter! A magnificent elbow!
[Taylor L] I really think that elbow may have opened Taylor's path.
You can tell it's renewed his energy.
Taylor's taking control of the cage again.
[Antoine] Oh my goodness, a huge…
-[Bilal] That's so bad. -[Antoine] Oh! That must have hurt.
[Taylor L] Taylor has to get up. He can't stay down or he'll lose his drive.
[Antoine] Attempted guillotine from Taylor.
That's it, get outta there, get outta there!
[Taylor L] With the uppercut! Knocked Mamaiev back!
[all cheering]
[Taylor L] He's getting in there now to give it what he can.
[Antoine] Oh! Looks like Taylor struck too early.
[Taylor L] He's got him now.
-[all groaning] -[Bilal] Oh no.
[Antoine] He needs to make sure Mamaiev can't get a hold of him.
-He's getting into position for a… -He's not gonna make it.
[Taylor L] He needs to be careful. This is not a good position to be in.
[Antoine] He's locked in. Taylor's face is telling us everything we need to know.
[Boss] Taylor, just ten seconds left, you have to hold on!
Just hold on!
[straining]
We need you to hold on. Just five more seconds.
[straining]
-[man] Stay in there. -[Elena] Almost there!
-[ref] Three, two, one! -Almost!
-[horn sounding] -Stop!
That's what I'm talking about!
[Antoine] Lucky for Taylor, it came out to nothing.
[Taylor L] Not nothing I'd say.
It didn't look like Taylor was far off from a KO there.
It was almost lights out for Taylor.
[Bilal] He's in rough shape. Rough shape, man.
He got that round. He got it.
[Taylor L] …might have another fight after this.
[Boss] Get up Taylor!
[Antoine] Will he have any gas left in the tank for that fight if he can't get up?
Look at the state of him after the second fight!
Come on, head up, Taylor. Show them you won!
Yeah! That's it, show them!
-Yeah! We won! -[Antoine] He pushed himself to the limit!
An incredible performance from Taylor. Now we wait for the judges' decision.
We can only hope it goes his way.
In my eyes, he took that last round.
I don't know, guys. It's close.
-It's all to the judges to decide. -Yeah.
Taylor Keita!
[all cheering]
[Elena] All right!
[Antoine] This boy's got spirit. That's for sure.
-[Taylor L] Amazing! Unbelievable! -[Antoine] But look at the state of him.
I have no idea how he's going to pull a third fight tonight.
[Boss] Keep your head up.
[MC] What an incredible fight.
[Taylor L] Look at him, hobbling out of there.
That's the part that's got me worried, Antoine.
Well, the most important thing is that he won the second fight.
[Taylor L] Exactly. He made it.
-[Antoine] We have to believe in him. -[Bilal] He's dead. He's exhausted.
-Yeah, I know… -He's completely cooked, you know?
-It's gonna be tough. -It's going to be real tough.
Taylor's okay. He's gotta be.
How're you feeling? Hey.
I'm just a little dizzy, coach. That's all.
I just need ten minutes to rest.
[music ends]
[Boss exhales sharply]
You have to stop, Taylor.
Can't keep going.
Okay?
Can you help him get dressed?
I'll get a medic, and then I'll go talk to the organizers.
[door opens]
Hey!
You're not going to quit, are you?
Are you serious?
Since when has he believed in you?
He doesn't know you.
You won your first two fights, and now what, you're gonna give up?
Taylor!
[sighs]
And the other fight? How's it going?
[sighs]
[muffled cheering]
Okay. He's actually pretty dangerous.
But honestly, he's right up your alley.
You know how this sport is. One punch and it's all over!
Listen, Taylor, I know you're exhausted. I know you've pushed hard.
But if you can do this fast enough, you can take it.
You hear me? You can win.
I'm saying this for you.
You know why you came here.
Think of your mom.
[dark music playing]
Okay?
Hang on, what is this?
I'm fighting.
[Taylor breathing heavily]
Would you step out, please?
-What? What for? -Just get out.
What did he say to you?
He just gave me his opinion, that's all.
There's no opinion to give.
There's just the observation that you're in no shape to fight.
-But I need the money, coach. -[knock on door]
Sorry to interrupt.
Next fight in ten minutes.
-No. No fight. No fight. -No. I'm… I'm ready. It's okay.
[door closes]
Taylor, you're out of your mind. Your opponent for this fight?
Listen. He won both of his fights well before the bell.
-You don't stand a chance! -[sighs]
From the beginning, you never thought I could win.
You don't know me at all.
Leave.
[panting]
This is a terrible idea.
[tense music playing]
-[tense music continues] -[crowd cheering]
All right, here we are. The final match of the KSW middleweight tournament,
where there's $100,000 at stake.
And here he comes, the final boss of the tournament,
the cold-blooded killer from Austria,
Tobias Weber is making his way to the cage, and, uh…
he doesn't look the least bit worried.
[Taylor L] He's taking it easy.
It almost feels like these fights have been a formality for him.
He's quite literally beaten all of his opponents tonight.
We're gonna have to keep a close eye on Taylor Keita…
[all murmuring]
Yo, this guy's fucking huge.
-Yeah, I know. What's he gonna do? -There's like 40 pounds between 'em.
[somber music playing]
[exhales deeply]
[crowd cheering]
[ref] Fighters, come to the center.
Protect yourself. Follow my instructions. Make a clean fight. Respecting the rules.
If you want to touch gloves, it's now. Go back to your corner.
[Bilal] Oh man, I can't watch. I'm so stressed.
-All right, it's the last one! -Strong, Taylor. Strong!
Are you ready? Are you ready? Fight!
Let's see a big start, Taylor. Get in there!
[exciting music playing]
[grunting]
Watch your defense, Taylor. Watch your defense!
Come on, come on! Our boy's a mess. He's out of juice!
Come on, get up.
[Taylor L] Look at Weber, playing with Taylor like a cat with a mouse.
[Antoine] He's letting him get up. He wants to win on his feet.
Stay on your toes. Keep moving, Taylor.
-No, no, no, no. -Protect your head. Use your arms!
-Yeah! -All right! Yeah!
Come on, go, keep going!
-Yeah! -Yes!
-[Antoine] Keep pushing, Taylor! -[Taylor L] You can do it! Let's go!
Keep the hits coming! Oh!
-And he's hit! -[sound distorting]
[high-pitched ringing]
-[all gasping] -[melancholy music playing]
[Antoine] And it's a dramatic knockout for Taylor Keita. He is down!
-[Taylor L] No, no, no, no, no. -[Antoine] Oh my goodness…
Get up, Taylor! Come on!
[Antoine] It looked like he was about to turn the fight around.
[Taylor L] No, no, no, no.
[Antoine] But then took a massive elbow to the head.
We told you, Weber's limbs should be registered as deadly weapons.
This is really bad. This is really bad.
[Antoine] He's lost consciousness.
[Taylor L] We're watching a nightmare play out in real time.
For any MMA fighter, this would be a worst-case scenario.
Taylor is on the ground. He's not moving.
Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck!
[Antoine] We've seen a lot of knockouts, but that one was brutal.
[Taylor L] Brutal, that's right. This is very bad.
Let's just hope he wakes up.
Taylor…
[Antoine] Now this underlines the harsh reality of MMA fighting.
[Taylor L] You can say that again. You don't wanna see it.
Not tonight, and not with Taylor Keita.
[heart beats echoing]
[music ends]
[tense music playing]
[music fades out]