📅 EXACT DATE RANGE: September 8 – 14, 2021
📍 LOCATION: Dragon MMA Gym + Ji-Ho's Apartment, Seoul, South Korea 🇰🇷
🥊 JI-HO'S PRO RECORD: 2 Wins • 0 Losses • 2 KO Finishes • UNRANKED
📊 OPPONENT SCOUT CARD: 🇷🇺 Alexei "The Bear" Volkov | 5-0-2 | 3 Finishes | Sambo Black Belt 🥋
🪙 LOCKED PURSE: ₩20M Base / ₩20M Win / ₩10M FOTN | ~₩38.5M Post-Tax If He Wins ✅
🌙 SEP 7, 11:47 PM – THE TAPES DON'T LIE 🎞️
The blue glow of Ji-Ho's laptop was the only light in his small apartment 🌃. Empty protein shake cups littered his desk 🥤, his scouting notebook was open to a fresh page covered in scribbled notes ✍️, and the seventh and final Alexei Volkov fight was frozen mid-frame on his screen: the Russian's left glove tapped the side of his head once, twice, three times, right before he spun into a back fist that separated his opponent from his consciousness 💥.
Ji-Ho leaned forward, his eyes burning from 6 straight hours of staring at footage 👀. He'd rewatched every single second of Volkov's 7-fight pro career twice over, pausing every 2 seconds to mark tells, patterns, and cracks in the Russian's armor. He rewound the clip, hit play at 0.25x speed, and tapped his pen along to the movement:
✍️ VOLKOV TELL #1: 0.8 seconds after he taps his left glove to his temple 3x → he will throw a spinning back fist. 100% of the time in 5 of 7 fights.
✍️ VOLKOV FLAW #1: After Round 3, his output drops by 62%. He stops moving his head, his hands drop 2 inches, and his takedown entries become slow and predictable. He gasses hard because he throws 100% power on every single strike 🪫.
✍️ VOLKOV FLAW #2: Every time he shoots a double-leg takedown, he drops his right hand completely to grab the legs. His chin is wide open for an uppercut or knee on the entry 🎯.
✍️ VOLKOV WEAKNESS: His lead left leg is barely checked when opponents throw low kicks. 4 of his 7 opponents landed 10+ leg kicks on him, and by Round 5 he was limping badly in both of his decision draws 🦵.
He scribbled the last line so hard his pen tore through the paper ✂️. That was the game plan's core, right there: stay outside, jab to keep distance, chip his lead leg with low kicks every time he presses forward, wait for him to gas after Round 3, then unload when he can barely lift his hands. Simple on paper. Impossible against a 180cm sambo black belt who hits like a sledgehammer 🪨.
His phone buzzed on the desk. It was a screenshot from Coach Kim, sent 10 minutes prior, of a cached Russian MMA forum post Ji-Ho had forwarded him hours earlier — the one with the deleted ticker about Volkov's knee. The Google Translate overlay was blurry but readable:
🚨 "Moscow regional sparring: Volkov twisted left knee on a throw, refused MRI, told coaches 'it's just a bruise', sparred 12 full rounds next day at full force. Trainers worried he's pushing too hard too fast."
Coach Kim's reply was short, firm, no room for wishful thinking:
"Monitor it. But do NOT plan for him to be hurt. Plan for the best, scariest version of Volkov. If he breaks his own body before fight night? That's luck, not strategy. We don't win on luck 🚫."
Ji-Ho locked his phone and tossed it on his bed 📱. He knew Coach was right. But he couldn't shake the image of the deleted clip, the forum post, the quiet rumors leaking out of Moscow. Reckless, he thought, tapping his pen on the notebook. He trains like he has something to prove. Like he's invincible. People who think they're invincible break the fastest.
He opened a new folder on his laptop, named it FUTURE RIVALS 📁, and dragged the highlight reel of #7 ranked Kim Dong-Hyun he'd found the night before into it. One fight at a time, he told himself. Beat Volkov first. Then the gatekeeper. Then the belt.
But as he closed his laptop and crawled into bed, his mind kept drifting to the 8 finishes on Dong-Hyun's record. 8 men who'd stepped in the cage with him and didn't hear the final bell. That wasn't just a gatekeeper. That was a wall 🧱. And sooner or later, Ji-Ho was going to have to climb over it.
🏋️ SEP 8-10 – CAMP WEEK 2, DAYS 1-3: FROM NOTES TO MUSCLE MEMORY ⚔️
The gym was already sweltering by 6AM on Wednesday 🔥, the air thick with sweat and the sharp smell of liniment oil 💧. Ji-Ho's left rib twinged as he lowered himself into a deep hip flexor stretch 🩹 — the soreness was fading, but it was still there, a quiet reminder not to rush. Coach Kang walked past, tapped the rib gently with two fingers, and raised an eyebrow: "Easy. No stupid moves." Ji-Ho nodded, already mentally swapping the twisting core circuit he'd planned for extra planks on his elbows.
The first three days of the week were brutal, repetitive, and exactly what he needed. Coach Lee had taped Volkov's three tells to the wall above the heavy bag, big enough to read from across the gym 📌, and every drill was built around exploiting them:
🥊 DRILL 1: THE SPINNING BACK FIST SLIP (Hours 1-4 Every Day)
Training partner Park Sung-Min wore a padded glove on his right hand and was told to throw only Volkov's signature spinning back fist, every time, for 4 minutes straight per round. For the first 6 rounds, Ji-Ho was terrible at it 😵💫. He was too early, too late, too slow to read the tell. Thwack — the padded glove smacked the side of his head so hard he saw stars. Thwack — another one, right on the temple. Thwack — a third that dropped him to one knee, sweat pouring into his eyes.
"STOP!" Coach Lee's voice cut through the noise like a knife 🔪. He marched over, grabbed Ji-Ho's chin, and forced him to look at the taped tell on the wall: LEFT GLOVE TAP = 0.8 SECONDS TO MOVE. "You're watching his fist! Watch his LEFT HAND! The punch comes after the tap! Count out loud! ONE — TAP. TWO — SLIP LEFT. THREE — COUNTER BODY HOOK! DO IT AGAIN! NO BREAKS!"
Ji-Ho pushed himself back up, legs shaking, jaw set ✊. He wiped the sweat from his eyes, fixed his gaze on Sung-Min's left glove, and nodded. One… tap… two… slip left… three… HOOK.
Thud.
His left hook slammed into Sung-Min's body pad so hard the bigger man grunted and stumbled back a step 🥴. The gym went quiet for half a second, then erupted in cheers from the other fighters 🎉. By the end of Day 3, Ji-Ho was slipping 9 out of every 10 spinning back fists, and every slip was followed by a sharp, digging body hook that left Sung-Min gasping for air. The muscle memory was finally sticking ✅.
🤼 DRILL 2: SAMBO SPRAWL & COUNTER (Afternoons)
Dmitri, the Russian sambo coach from Busan, was back for the week, his thick accent booming across the mat as he put Ji-Ho through takedown defense hell 🥋. Volkov's go-to was a explosive double-leg entry off a feinted right cross, so Dmitri had Ji-Ho drill the same sprawl, hip escape, and counter knee 500 times a day, until his thighs burned so bad he could barely walk up stairs 🦵🔥.
"Volkov think he is strongest man in cage," Dmitri grunted, shoving Ji-Ho back into position after a lazy sprawl ❌. "You let him grab your legs? He throw you like sack of potatoes 🥔. You sprawl fast, you hook his head, you knee his ribs while he is down. Make him scared to shoot. Make him think twice before he come forward. Understand?"
"Understood, Coach," Ji-Ho panted, dropping into another perfect sprawl ✅.
🦵 DRILL 3: LOW KICK CHIPPING (Evenings)
Every night after team practice, Ji-Ho stayed 2 extra hours kicking the heavy bag's lower third, 1000 kicks per leg, until his shins were bruised purple and numb 🤕. Volkov's lead leg was his weakest point — the scouting didn't lie. If he could take that leg away early, the Russian couldn't press forward, couldn't shoot takedowns, couldn't generate power on his punches. Chip, chip, chip, Ji-Ho thought as his shin smacked the bag again and again. By Round 3, he won't be able to stand on it.
On the evening of Sep 10, Min-Jung — the 14-year-old kickboxer he sponsored — stayed late to hold pads for him 🥊. Her small frame barely moved when his kicks landed, her face set in the same serious, focused expression he wore every day. "You're twisting your hip more now, sunbaenim," she said after a particularly hard kick made her skid back a step. "It's sharper. It will hurt him bad." Ji-Ho smiled, ruffled her hair, and kicked 200 more times. If a 14-year-old girl could see the improvement, it was real.
🪙 SEP 11, 2PM – THE CONTRACT & THE LIFE THAT WAITS FOR HIM 💸
Min-Ji walked into the gym's office in a crisp black blazer, contract folder in one hand, calculator in the other 🧮. She laid the finalized, signed Road FC 62 contract on the table in front of Ji-Ho and Coach Kim, then walked through every number line by line, no shortcuts, no surprises:
💸 FINALIZED PURSE BREAKDOWN – JI-HO VS VOLKOV
1. ✅ Base Guarantee: ₩20,000,000 KRW → Paid even if he loses
2. ✅ Win Bonus: ₩20,000,000 KRW → Doubles his pay if his hand is raised
3. ✅ Fight of the Night: ₩10,000,000 KRW → Automatic bonus if the promotion votes it best fight of the card
4. ➖ Korean Combat Sports Tax (30% Fixed): -₩15,000,000 (Applied to total gross)
5. ➖ Management Fee (10%, Contracted): -₩5,000,000
6. ➖ Gym Contribution (5%, Team Standard): -₩2,500,000
7. 🟢 NET IF HE WINS + WINS FOTN: ₩46,250,000 KRW (~$40,300 USD)
8. 🟢 NET IF HE WINS (NO FOTN): ₩38,500,000 KRW (~$33,600 USD)
9. 🟢 NET IF HE LOSES: ₩11,000,000 KRW (~$9,600 USD)
Ji-Ho stared at the numbers, his throat tight 😶. Even if he lost, he'd make more money than his dad made in an entire year at the electronics factory. If he won? It was life-altering. He pulled out his phone and called his mom right there in the office, no warning, his hands shaking a little 📞.
"Yeobo?" Her voice was tired, muffled — she'd just gotten home from her 12-hour shift at the textile factory, he could tell by the background hum of their old apartment TV 📺. "Are you okay? Did training go bad?"
"No, Mom. Everything's good. Great, actually." Ji-Ho took a deep breath, smiled even though she couldn't see it 😊. "I signed the fight contract today. If I win in November? I make enough to pay off the entire remaining mortgage on the apartment. All of it. No more monthly payments. No more overtime for you and Appa. Ever again."
The line went dead silent for 10 full seconds. Then he heard her sniffle, quiet at first, then soft sobs 🥹. "Ji-Ho-ah… you don't have to do that for us. We just want you to be safe, to be happy —"
"I know, Mom. But I want to. You and Appa worked 14-hour days for 19 years to give me this chance. It's my turn to take care of you." He paused, his voice softer now. "Tell Appa he can take Saturdays off from the side job. No more fixing cars in the rain. Okay?"
"Okay," she whispered, crying harder now. "Okay. We love you so much. Be careful. Please be careful."
When he hung up, Coach Kim was pretending to look out the window, Min-Ji was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, and neither of them said a word about it 🫂. Some moments didn't need talking about.
🦅 SEP 12 – THE GATEKEEPER: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT KIM DONG-HYUN 📊
That night, Ji-Ho and Takeshi ordered fried chicken and cold beer 🍗🍻 (Ji-Ho had one sip, then switched to water — no cheat drinks 8 weeks out from fight night) and binged the entire fight library of #7 Ranked Kim Dong-Hyun, the man Ji-Ho was now 90% sure would be his next opponent if he beat Volkov. Takeshi took notes on a laptop while Ji-Ho paused and replayed clips, and by 2AM they had a full, terrifying scouting report written up:
📊 KIM DONG-HYUN – 32 YEARS OLD | 178CM / 5'10" | 135LBS
🏆 PRO RECORD: 10 Wins • 6 Losses • 8 FINISHES (5 KO / 3 SUB) | NEVER BEEN FINISHED IN 16 PRO FIGHTS
🥋 STYLE: Taekwondo 4th Dan + Muay Thai + BJJ Black Belt | Switches stances 15+ times per round
📜 CAREER PATH:
- 2016: Turned pro, won first 6 fights by finish → Road FC contract
- 2018: Won 3 straight vs ranked opponents → #1 Contender
- 2018: Lost Split Decision to Lee Jae-Min for Bantamweight Title (Many fans said Dong-Hyun won) 😤
- 2019: Signed short UFC deal, lost 2 close decisions → Released
- 2020: Lost 3rd straight split decision to #2 ranked Park Seung-Hyun → Dropped out of top 10, considered retirement
- 2021: Returned, knocked out #9 and #8 ranked fighters in Rounds 2 and 3 → Climbed back to #7 RANKED
⚠️ DANGER SIGNALS:
1. Spinning elbow from southpaw stance → Knocked out #5 ranked Park Min-Woo in 2021 🧱💥
2. Guillotine choke from clinch → 3 of his 3 submission wins come here 🪤
3. Body kick setups → He feints low kick, then goes high to the head 40% of the time 🦵⚡
🪫 WEAKNESSES:
4. Fades hard after Round 4 → Gas tank is his biggest flaw (Same as Volkov, but worse)
5. Hates body shots → Every opponent who landed 10+ body hooks per round won the decision against him
6. Struggles with taller, longer fighters → Only 1 win vs an opponent 5cm+ taller than him
Takeshi leaned back on the couch, crunching a chicken wing loudly 🍗. "Dude's a beast. 16 fights. All against killers. Never been finished. You beat Volkov, then beat him? You're top 3. One fight away from Jae-Min and the belt. That's the path, right?"
Ji-Ho nodded, but his jaw was tight, frustration bubbling up before he could stop it 😤. "It's bullshit, though. I knocked out Tanaka. I'm 2-0 with two highlight finishes. Why do I have to fight two more top-10 guys just to get in line for the eliminator? Jae-Min defended the belt last year against a guy with 3 losses! I could beat him right now. I know I could."
Takeshi put his beer down, his playful grin gone, and looked Ji-Ho dead in the eye 👀. "Remember your third amateur fight? The one you lost by knockout in Round 1 because you rushed the guy, thought you were too good to get hit? You sat on that mat crying, said you were gonna quit forever. I had to drag you to practice the next day." He poked Ji-Ho in the chest, hard. "You're good. You're really good. But you're not entitled to shit. You want the belt? You earn it. You beat Volkov. You beat Dong-Hyun. You beat whoever else they put in front of you. That's how it works. That's how it should work. Or did you forget why you started fighting in the first place?"
Ji-Ho stared at him for a long, quiet moment, then laughed, the frustration melting away into sheepish respect 😂. Takeshi was right. Of course he was right. No shortcuts. No fast tracks. Earn every inch.
"Thanks, man," Ji-Ho said, clinking his water bottle against Takeshi's beer. "Needed that."
"Anytime, champ," Takeshi grinned, going back to his chicken. "Now rewind that Dong-Hyun spinning elbow clip again. I wanna see exactly how he sets it up so you don't get your head knocked off next year."
🚨 SEP 13 – THE CLIP THAT CAN'T BE ERASED, THE PROMISE THAT CAN'T BE BROKEN ⚡
Sunday morning was open mat, and Ji-Ho tested his scouting in live sparring against Sung-Min, who'd spent the whole week studying Volkov's style to mimic him perfectly 🎭. The rules were simple: 5 rounds, 5 minutes each, Sung-Min could only use Volkov's moves — spinning back fists, double-leg takedowns, heavy power punches.
It was a masterclass in everything Ji-Ho had drilled all week 🥊✨. Every time Sung-Min tapped his left glove three times? Slip left, body hook — 4 for 4, perfect, no misses. Every time he shot a takedown? Sprawl, underhook, knee to the body — stuffed 11 straight attempts, not one clean takedown landed. Every time he pressed forward? Jab, low kick, circle out — his lead leg was bright red by Round 3, and he could barely put weight on it. By Round 5, Sung-Min was gasping, his hands down, exactly like the scouting said Volkov would be, and Ji-Ho finished the round with a perfect spinning roundhouse kick to the body that folded him over, wheezing 🥴.
Coach Kim blew the whistle, clapping loud enough to echo off the gym walls 👏. "THAT'S IT! THAT'S HOW YOU BEAT HIM! NOT WITH POWER. WITH PATIENCE. WITH PREPARATION. WITH MAKING HIM FIGHT YOUR FIGHT, NOT HIS!"
Ji-Ho helped Sung-Min up, clapped him on the back, and grabbed his water bottle 🫂. As he scrolled Instagram to cool down, his thumb froze on a post from a Russian MMA fan account he'd followed a few days prior. It was a 10-second vertical video, grainy, shot from the back of a gym in Moscow, timestamped 2 days prior.
The video showed Volkov drilling a throw. He planted his left leg, twisted, and his knee buckled inward violently. He collapsed to the mat with a cry of pain, grabbing his left knee. Two trainers ran over, helped him to his feet, and half-carried him off the mat, his left leg hanging completely limp, not bearing an ounce of weight 🆘.
The caption was in Russian, but the auto-translate burned into Ji-Ho's brain:
"Volkov hurt bad in sparring today. Sources say ACL is suspected. Fight with Kim Ji-Ho in serious jeopardy. Team refusing comment."
Ji-Ho's blood ran cold 🧊. He saved the video to his camera roll, screenshot the caption, and sent the whole thing to the team group chat immediately. Coach Kim replied 30 seconds later:
"Good catch. But nothing is official until Road FC says so. We keep training. We keep preparing for Volkov. We do NOT change a single thing. Understood?"
Ji-Ho typed back: "Understood. Training for Volkov until someone tells me otherwise."
He meant it, too. Even if the rumors were true, even if Volkov was out, he wasn't going to waste a single day of camp. The work he was putting in now didn't just beat Volkov. It beat Dong-Hyun. It beat Jae-Min. It beat anyone who ever stepped in the cage with him.
📔 SEP 14, 10PM – END OF WEEK 2: THE JOURNAL ENTRY & THE HOOK 🪝
Ji-Ho sat at his desk, his notebook open to the last page of the Volkov section, and wrote in slow, deliberate handwriting ✍️, the glow of his laptop lighting his face:
WEEK 2 CAMP NOTES – SEP 14, 2021
✅ Volkov's tells are locked in. I can slip his spinning back fist in my sleep now.
✅ Takedown defense is solid. He won't take me down easy.
✅ Low kicks are sharp. I will take his leg away by Round 3.
⚠️ Knee rumors are getting worse. But Coach is right — no luck, only work.
🦅 Dong-Hyun is the real gatekeeper. 16 fights, never finished, dangerous everywhere. If I beat Volkov, he is next. No shortcuts.
🏆 I was wrong earlier. I don't deserve the title yet. I have 2 fights. Dong-Hyun has 16. Jae-Min has 14. I need more. I need to earn it. One fight at a time.
He closed the notebook, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the Volkov fight poster taped to his wall 🖼️. His phone buzzed once, twice, three times in a row — Road FC push alerts, his team chat, a news alert from the biggest Korean MMA outlet.
He picked it up, his thumb hovering over the screen. The headline made his heart skip a beat:
🚨 BREAKING: ALEXEI VOLKOV'S TEAM POSTS FIRST OFFICIAL UPDATE ON KNEE INJURY — PHOTO INCLUDED
He tapped the notification. The photo loaded first: Volkov standing in a Moscow clinic, a thick black neoprene knee brace wrapped tight around his left leg, a forced, tight smile on his face. The caption under it was short, vague, and sent a chill down Ji-Ho's spine:
"Small setback for a big comeback. We will make an official announcement about the November 13 fight in 7 days. Thank you for the support 🇷🇺💪"
Ji-Ho locked his phone, set it down, and closed his eyes. The room was quiet, save for the hum of his air conditioner. Somewhere outside, a car drove past.
7 days.
In 7 days, he'd know if he was still fighting Alexei Volkov… or if the gatekeeper, Kim Dong-Hyun, was going to be called up early to take his place.
Either way, he was ready.
⏭️ NEXT CHAPTER TEASER 📖
CHAPTER 27 – ⚔️ CAMP WEEKS 3-6: STEEL SHARPENS STEEL
Ji-Ho's camp hits full intensity as Dmitri the sambo coach and Chen Ling fly in to build his counter grappling arsenal, and he lands his spinning roundhouse kick in sparring for the first time to the shock of the entire gym 🤯. The Volkov injury rumors reach a fever pitch as conflicting reports leak out of Moscow, and Coach Kim begins quietly preparing a secret backup game plan for a very different opponent — one who hits harder, moves faster, and has never been finished in his entire career. The clock is ticking, and the November 13 main event hangs by a thread.
[TO BE CONTINUED…]