The crowd roars, stomping their feet as the bright lights illuminate the night. It’s a sharp contrast to backstage, where the cheers vibrate against the thin walls. Alejandro sits isolated on the bench, bruised from his earlier match. There are still matches left, yet the wolf’s night is over. After changing into his casual clothes, Alejandro exits the locker room. As he walks down the hall, he can’t help but look up at the mounted tv, broadcasting the current match that’s happening in the ring. He suddenly bumps shoulders with someone and immediately apologizes, embarrassed for not paying attention. The wolf looks up to see a bruised, beaten face just like his. Then the realization hits. It’s his friend Joseph who had his match before his! The nervousness fades, replaced with joy as the wolf’s tail wags excitedly.

They both walk out of the arena together, chatting about their fights and much more. Once they’re out of the arena, there’s this flyer that catches both their eyes, stopping their conversation instantly. It’s the poster for the fight cards for the upcoming event. Already? The current event hasn’t even finished, yet the next matches are already confirmed. Both the dragon and wolf search for their names, invested in who their next opponent is. Then they find it. The realization hits as they both turn to look at each other. They’re staring at their next opponent… Before the wolf and dragon go their separate ways, they promise to give it their all.

It’s time. The lights blaze once more, the crowd as lively as ever. It’s the day to keep their promises. Joseph stands in his corner, wearing his trademark fire pattern trunks. Across from him, Alejandro adjusts his signature red pair. The wolf and the dragon glare at each other, their friendly demeanor completely gone, turned into confident determination. Will the wolf manage to overcome the dragon, or will Joseph put on a fiery performance tonight?

Ding! The bell rings, beginning the fight! The fans cheer as the competitors tap their gloves, circling each other. The wolf maintains his distance, keeping his calm patience his fans know him for. Joseph stays composed, known for being an all-rounded fighter. He can adapt to any scenario, talented in all aspects of MMA. Alejandro makes the first move with testing jabs, already planning on his devastating counters. Joseph easily parries, responding with safe low kicks, chipping away damage. Both are being very technical and careful, one fatal mistake will break the stalemate.

Joseph adapts to Alejandro’s patience, refusing to fall into his rhythm. Noticing this, Alejandro shifts to a more technical approach, relying on his most trusted weapon: his jab. Alejandro’s jabs are poking, then powerful, then lightning fast, then goes low, high, WHAM! After Joseph was dealing with the annoying jabs, he managed to slip a roundhouse kick to the wolf’s liver. Joseph tries to capitalize, landing several clean hits, then suddenly he’s staring at the cage wall, caught by a deadly precise hook he never saw coming. The crowd cheers, enjoying their technical battle.

Alejandro resets, relying on his technical, relentless jabs. The dragon slips past and attempts a takedown only to take an uppercut to the chin. This doesn’t stop Joseph as he continues on, managing to get the wolf down on the mat, a grappling battle. Alejandro’s main weakness is grappling, he struggles harshly as Joseph dominates. The dragon is aiming for a submission as he tries to get some hits in, wearing down the canine. Alejandro does whatever he can to not give Joseph the chance. Tick, tick, tick. The dragon dominates, inching closer to the submission. Ding! The bell rings! Alejandro is saved by the bell, seconds away from submitting.

Both fighters sit in their corners, resting up for the second round. It’s difficult for Alejandro to create a plan if Joseph can do literally anything, especially if he can grapple. He has to keep the match into a striking match. The bell rings again, starting round two. Joseph feeling confident makes the first move, taking control early. Alejandro is forced to retreat with only have Joseph following, raining down punches and kicks, not giving a moment for a counter. Alejandro swings wide with a desperate haymaker, only to be countered by an elbow, his vision dazed. The wolf growls as he’s being dominated, forced into the cage as Joseph continues pounding on him. It’s slowly becoming a one-sided match, right until Alejandro slips and manages to land an effective counter. Alejandro capitalizes, using his jabs to overwhelm Joseph, starting to be effective. Just when the wolf was about to set up a finishing move, the bell rings, concluding round two.

Despite the rough start, it appears his powerful counters and annoying jabs are keeping him alive. Joseph is too technical and all-rounded to take advantage of. He’s clearly winning on points and has options to end this match. The bell rings once again, beginning round three. The match goes one-sided immediately as Alejandro lands a clean roundhouse to the dragon’s face, stumbling him. Alejandro presses the advantage, raining down punches, kicks, elbows, and knees to the face and the body. Joseph caught off guard gets easily overwhelmed by the constant pressure, taking heavy damage, making it harder to escape. Joseph’s golden mouthguard is stained red as he absorbs every hit Alejandro lands, just to deliver an even heavier blow in return. With the annoying jab, Alejandro sets up a clean cross, smashing into the dragon’s face.

Everything freezes in time. Joseph’s head twists to the side, saliva and blood frozen midair, Alejandro’s right arm still extended from the impact. The clock freezes on twelve seconds left on round three. Is this the moment the match finally concludes? Will Joseph fall from the brutal hit, or survive the final twelve seconds? Has the wolf truly defeated the dragon? What do you think?~

This amazing artwork and the story were both drawn and written by my good friend AlePaw  Ale! Go check him out!

The poor dazed dragon is no one else, but me!  Latin_Dragon