The Ascent
January 20th, 2023 in Madrid, Spain at 3:00pm.
A young man covered in sweat walks from his home gym to his living room, and notices his phone vibrate once he sits on his couch to rest.
"Hope this is something good."
He says as he sees and reads a message from a friend.
"Olympus Contest..."
A few seconds later, he sends a response.
[Seems interesting, but I'm not sure.]
Roughly one minute later, he gets another text.
[You've joined tournaments before, Luis, this'll be similar.]
Luis sighs as he sends another message.
[Those were different. No-Gi BJJ competitions are very different from more...open stuff like this.]
[That doesn't mean you can't join in. I've seen you choke out people twice your size before, and you're almost impossible to submit.]
[Neither of those will matter if I get beaten to a pulp by someone strong. Besides, I'm still pretty new to cross training. All I've got is BJJ and some basic Kickboxing.]
[That's all you'll need. You're way better than you think, and not everyone you could fight is too strong to grapple with. Even if you don't enjoy this, think about the rewards. Way more people are gonna know about you, and you'll get a ton of cash just from competing.]
[How much? If it's less than the IBJJF pays, then I'm not joining.]
In response, Luis almost immediately receives a link to a site explaining the Olympus Contest. After scrolling through some information, his eyes widen upon seeing the prize money listed.
"Dammit...why'd you have to be so convincing..."
He says to himself before sending another text.
[Fine, I'll join. I don't know if I'll stick around for the whole thing, but it's worth a shot.]
Luis then goes back to the site to sign up for the tournament. After receiving an email containing information on what happens next, he leans back and takes a deep breath while staring off.
"Hopefully this all goes well..."