Chapter 59 Holding His Own
Swoosh!
Blitzing through the air, bursting off the ground with great speed and power, Xavier knew to keep his distance as much as possible and went in for a kick to the Juggernaut's face.
However, to his surprise, not only was his fly kick avoided smoothly by the Juggernaut, who leant to the side and slipped the kick like a boxer, but he was also spent tumbling backwards.
Seeing Xavier's attack coming and displaying incredible reflexes, he dodged the kick and countered with a palm strike that carried great force behind it.
Fortunately, Xavier had been able to put his arms up and protect his abdomen, and it also wasn't a full-force blow since he hadn't been able to generate enough power in that split second.
But it certainly showed him just how tough of an opponent he was facing.
"You're quite strong, fatty. But I've found your weakness," Xavier taunted, as he stood a few metres away from the Juggernaut.
"Is that so? You can bluff all you want, but frankly, I don't have any weakness and that's the truth."
"Hmph. Don't be so full of yourself. I'll show you the difference between us," Xavier scoffed as he gathered all the strength he could muster in his legs.
So far, trying to strike him had been to no avail, with his first kick dealing barely any damage and his second quite easily avoided.
But there were many other ways of taking down an opponent...
-
Striking was clearly Xavier's strong suit, especially with his great speed, power and technique, but that's not all he had in his arsenal.
Although not as well-trained in them as kickboxing, he had also dabbled in a few other martial arts, namely judo.
Mainly focusing on self-defence, judo teaches an array of things, mostly around throws, submissions and rolls.
Becoming more of a sport over time and being trained less for serious combat, and more for protecting one's self, it was built around one major principle.
And while training judo the few times that he did, Xavier picked up that fundamental concept.
Using the opponent's weight against them.
Although not all there was to the martial art, it was the essence of most the techniques and allowed for smaller opponents to have a chance against heavier opponents.
With an opponent heading one's way, their forward momentum could be turned into a throw's driving force, and increase the power of an attack, and that was what Xavier was planning on doing.
And even if it wasn't enough to take down the Juggernaut, all he was aiming to do was create an opening and find the flaws in his opponent.
-
Needing to relax, and hoping to use his flexibility to get into a position where he can swiftly drop the Juggernaut, Xavier stood still and was no longer prancing around the cage like he was before.
"What? Have your legs frozen in place?" asked the behemoth he was facing mockingly.
Xavier just smiled and stood there, as the Juggernaut charged toward him, thinking that maybe the pressure of the crowd had gotten to his opponent.
But unlike what the giant man believed, Xavier was very much relaxed and calm.
He knew that if his opponent were to get a hold of him, it would already be over, but that's not to say if he got close, he had absolutely no chance against him.
And as the Juggernaut neared Xavier and put his arms out to grab his shoulders, Xavier moved to the side and put his leg out. Hooking them around his opponent's legs, he grabbed the giant man's left arm with both arms and pulled as hard as he could.
Unable to slow down with his great momentum and size, also not expecting Xavier to attack in such a way, the Juggernaut tumbled over Xavier's leg and was sent rolling across the cage.
Slamming into the wall of the cage, he still got up, mostly unharmed, and it was to be expected that such a skilled grappler knew how to expertly take a fall.
However, Xavier, seeing that he had actually managed to throw his large opponent in using such a simple technique, had a smile on his face and it certainly had the intended effect.
It was humiliating for a grappler like the Juggernaut to be caught off guard and sent tumbling by someone much smaller than themselves, especially a nobody like Xavier.
And trying to get into his head, the more reckless his opponent became, the better it would be for him.
Or so he hoped...
-
"That wasn't bad, but now you're fucked," the Juggernaut said as he got up and burst out into laughter.
Lifting his arms up into the air, showboating for the crowd he announced, "This is the end for him!"
Xavier just smiled as he rushed over to the Juggernaut who stood with a wide stance and decided that chasing after him wouldn't do him any good.
His decision wasn't wrong, but he was underestimating Xavier and didn't realise just how much of a reckless and unorthodox fighter he was.
Just as he neared the Juggernaut, who was like a brick wall in his sumo stance and was ready to land a powerful palm strike on him that would take him out with a single blow, Xavier did something completely unexpected.
Sliding on the ground, he had never tried using such a thing in combat and had only seen it in movies or read about it in novels, but who would have thought it would actually work and be so effective.
And the great speeds he was moving at and with him being fully clothed, he slid relatively smoothly on the ground and with enough speed to slip past the Juggernaut and through his legs.
If that wasn't humiliating enough for the Juggernaut, who didn't see such a manoeuvre coming, Xavier quickly jumped up and landed a quick jab to the back of the Juggernaut's head before backing away.
Letting out a sigh of relief, if he had retreated a split second later, he would have been struck by the Juggernaut's elbow, but Xavier was confident that he could take down the Juggernaut now.
He was incredibly powerful and his skills were nothing to be scoffed at, but he had found his way to work around them and was holding his own.
Using whatever he could recall from the few times he had trained in Judo to take him down each time the Juggernaut wildly charged towards him, and exploiting his speed whenever he stood still, Xavier was surprising all the onlookers.
Never had the Juggernaut struggled so much against an opponent, and it was mostly due to Xavier's great speed, courage and perceptivity.
But their bout was far from over.
-
Bursting around the cage, Xavier would head towards the Juggernaut each time he decided to stand still and would land a few minor blows on him, prancing around him and relying on his speed.
And each time the Juggernaut would try to switch it up and rush towards him, he would either trip him up and use his momentum against him, or avoid him completely.
So far, Xavier's tactics were working, but despite it appearing as though he was winning, he wasn't dealing any damage to his opponent.
And, the longer the fight went on, the more accustomed the Juggernaut was becoming to his movements and the harder it was becoming to land a blow on him...