329 KOF champion

Sitting in Ricardo Barbosa's office, Ben took a second to appreciate the space. This was one of the rare spaces in the MMA gym that didn't smell of sweat and old cotton. The walls here were even thick enough to insulate the sound from the men yelling not too far away on the other side.

Ben looked around at the glass shelves filled with shining golden trophies. It was a sight to behold. Then, he looked down at his chest, at the crappy medal connected by a sh*t plastic blue ribbon…

He grimaced. "What's with this medal? Why didn't I win a trophy?"

At this, Ricardo sneered. "A trophy? For this little free internal gym tournament? You're getting ahead of yourself."

Ben blinked. "But I just beat a bunch of purple belts including that heavyweight Nick…"

Ricardo leaned in as he stared hard at Ben. "Did you not hear me say free?"

…

Ben nodded in understanding now. 'So that's what it was…'

He would've done the same thing…