The Cage (2024) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[crowd cheering]
[commentator] Here we go, it's time.
This is a very special fight
we'll be watching tonight,
with a young man nobody believed in.
And he will attempt to accomplish
something extraordinary.
[commentator 2] Exactly. It's impossible
to predict the outcome of this fight,
but what's certain is that Taylor
will be meeting with his own fate,
and with someone looking to hurt him.
["Die a King" by iAmJakeHill playing]
I am the hunter, you are the monster
I am the entity, I am the hunter ♪
Fight with no honor
Fight with no honor ♪
Bring me the leg
I won't choke on the water ♪
I am the author
You are the paper ♪
Rip you apart
Leave the blood on the razor ♪
[rap music continues]
Taylor "The Outsider" Keita!
[door slams]
[music fades out]
[crowd shouting]
THE CAGE
8 MONTHS EARLIER
["Plain Jane" by A$AP Ferg playing]
♪rest in peace to my superior ♪
Hermès link could feed
A village in Liberia ♪
TMZ taking pictures
Causin' mad hysteria ♪
Momma see me on BE
And started tearin' up ♪
I'ma start killin' niggas
How you get that trife? ♪
I attended Harlem picnics
Where you risked your life ♪
Uncle used to skim work
Sellin' nicks at night ♪
I was only 8 years old
Watching Nick at Nite ♪
Uncle Psycho was
In that bathroom, buggin' ♪
Knife to his guts
Hope Daddy don't cut him ♪
[music ends]
[coach] All right, guys.
Let's get started.
[man] Dream on, man. Those guys are pros.
How was the fight yesterday?
Uh, first round submission.
Check it, Niko filmed it.
That's great, man!
You keep it up, maybe one day,
it'll be your face up here. [chuckles]
Right?
Boss?
- [Boss] Okay.
- Boss, check it out.
- I had an amateur fight yesterday.
- Okay.
- First round submission.
- What's up?
And I brought the MMA Fighters banner.
- So I could represent you, you know.
- Great man, thanks for that.
- [man] What's up, boss?
- Hey, bud.
- I wanted to ask you
- What's your name?
- Taylor.
- Taylor.
- Taylor.
- Keep training.
Thanks, I wanted to
[Boss] Double impact!
- Hey, coach.
- You good, champ?
- Yeah.
- [Boss] Thanks for coming.
[man] Any time. Your guy needs to spar.
- [Boss] Get in there.
- [coach] Amateurs, let's go!
Lookin' good. Take it easy, guys.
Don't want anyone getting injured.
- [coach] That's it, knees up. Let's go!
- [Boss coaching in background]
Bilal! Faster, let's go, move it
- [Boss] Yeah, that's what you want.
- Right. Yeah. That's wanna see. Good.
That's right! Good stuff.
- [Boss] You're in charge! You're leading.
- I'm here now!
[both grunting]
Protect your core when you throw a punch
like that or you're gonna have problems.
Yo, Boss. How are ya?
Sorry I'm late. I'm ready.
Can I start training?
Yeah. Sure you can.
But not with the pros. Pros are on time.
See, now I'm busy with Redouane.
He showed up to training on time.
Come on!
Get the hit in before he hits you!
Always strike first!
Guys, you gotta use your standing foot.
Let's go, let's go! Move around!
[Boss] That's it!
[coach] Don't drop your guard!
Keep your legs engaged.
[Niko] Hands up!
- [coach] Hands up! Protect yourself.
- [Niko] Watch it!
- [panting]
- [Niko] Protect your ribs next time.
Okay, guys! Break!
- [laughing] I'm good.
- Not bad.
- Thanks.
- Keep it up.
- I will.
- Find a new partner. Let's pair up.
- Boxing or kickboxing?
- Either one.
Okay.
- You been training here long?
- Three years.
Before, I did four years of Muay Thai.
[exhaling sharply]
- Whoa.
- Come here. I'll show you something.
When you're taking a volley like that,
slip out. Move to the side.
- Don't stand there and take it.
- Right. Okay.
Let's try it again. Go!
Yeah! There.
[Taylor grunts]
- Don't you normally train with the pros?
- Yeah, but I got here late.
- You know Boss.
- Actually, I don't.
Boss doesn't really care
about the amateurs.
He's always focused on the pros, so
Meaning he's focused on Redouane.
Makes sense,
he's Boss's ticket into the UFC.
[coach] Gotta pick it up, guys.
Come on! Work harder.
We block, we hit back,
we block, we hit back. Practice!
- [laughing]
- [coach] Try feints! Try some takedowns!
- Bap, bap, bap.
- [coach] We're doing MMA here, guys!
- Okay, okay.
- [laughing]
Good effort.
I tried for the leg, but
- No. Not bad. You'll get there.
- Okay.
And break! Good work, guys.
- Excuse me, Boss?
- Yeah?
About earlier,
I wanted to ask you about, um
Well, I've fought as an amateur.
And I've won three matches in a row now.
Okay.
I'm feeling confident, you know?
I was wondering if I could change groups.
Maybe join the pros, come train with you
You think I'm ignoring you, but I see
everything that happens in the club.
And I'm pretty sure
you're in the right place.
I'm sorry if that sounds harsh.
I'm not gonna lie and say you're
ready to move from amateur to pro.
You're performing well at this level.
And you should be proud of that.
It's not like this is a hobby for me.
I wanna be a champion,
bring home a belt from the UFC.
I know it's hard,
impossible for some people,
but not for me.
I don't have another choice.
- We always have options.
- No, no. No.
- Okay.
- I don't have a plan B.
The diploma, the good job,
the white picket fence, it's not me.
And it'll never be me
because I can't put two words together
without fucking up my spelling.
[somber music playing]
The one thing I can do is fight.
And I love it.
I know I've got what it takes.
I know I can do great things
but I'm gonna I'm gonna need your help.
Because I can't do it on my own.
Okay.
So I'm either gonna tell
you what you wanna hear,
the same shit you hear
from everybody else
"Just want it more, be confident."
"Believe in yourself. Never give up."
Or I level with you.
Tell you that's not true.
You can train all you want.
You can sacrifice
your life for this sport.
But there's no guarantee
you'll ever be a champ.
At the training center with Mbappé,
everybody worked real hard.
Maybe even harder than him.
But he became the star.
- Yeah, but
- It's not fair but that's how it is.
If you want my opinion,
keep training if you love it.
But don't
be stubborn and call it determination.
Okay, buddy?
See you at the club.
[car door shuts]
[engine starts]
[music ends]
[mobile game chiming]
[Taylor] Mom?
Yeah, I'm here.
[game chiming]
- You okay?
- Mm.
There's some Coke in the fridge.
You know I don't drink that stuff, Mom.
Then stop whining and get me a can.
[Taylor sighs]
What's wrong? Why are you sulking?
I'm not.
No, it's
It's just with all this training,
I don't know
I'm thinking maybe I should quit.
Give up on it, you know?
Your boxing?
[scoffs softly]
Yeah.
Yeah, my boxing.
Not the first time you've
tried something and failed.
You'll find something else.
[melancholy music playing]
Oh. I wanted to ask
I've come up a bit short this month.
- Again?
- Hey.
What's going on?
Why don't you have any money?
- Isn't Régis helping you?
- He's doing his best, Taylor.
Forget it. I'll figure something out.
I shouldn't have asked.
No, no. I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sorry.
Listen, I'll handle it
and get the money somehow.
I mean, just think. If I quit training,
I can take on more hours at work.
Then I can help you out more. Yeah?
I should go.
'Kay.
[kisses]
Hey, Taylor.
Have a happy birthday.
Thanks, Mom.
[melancholy music continues]
And while you're waiting for UFC Paris,
which you can watch live on RMC Sports
starting Saturday at 7:00pm,
tonight we're gonna be showing
you some classic fights.
And of course where else can we start
but with the legend himself,
Georges St-Pierre!
One of the greatest fighters
in the history of the UFC.
GSP has been the UFC 170-pound champion
not once but twice.
After having achieved
the most wins in title bouts ever,
he retired, but four years later
came back out of retirement
in order to challenge the defending
middleweight champion.
Next weight class up, mind you.
Under 84 kilos, he faced off against
the middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
As we can see here, well, it's clear
GSP hasn't lost an ounce of his talent.
He was still a force to be reckoned with.
GSP remains to this day
one of the sport's GOATs.
As powerful standing as on the ground,
and in this fight against Michael Bisping,
he's showing us his full potential.
While standing, he makes excellent use
of boxing techniques,
but eventually brings the fight
to the ground with a chokehold on Bisping.
Incredibly,
the chokehold led to a full KO.
Here's GSP finishing the fight
covered in blood.
An incredible battle between
two incredible fighters.
And GSP emerges victorious.
With his return, he brought home
a second championship belt,
in a second weight category.
Very few fighters in the history of
the sport have ever been able to do that.
[sniffling]
[screaming]
[grunting loudly]
[man on TV] it goes without saying
that in the world of MMA,
he's still a household name,
not to mention an inspiration
for a new generation of young fighters.
[emotional music playing]
- [music ends]
- [grunting]
- How's it going, Taylor?
- All good.
Right, so how do you wanna pay?
Uh, listen, I'm actually gonna cancel.
I'll just pay for the last two months.
Seriously?
Yeah.
If it's only about money,
we can figure something out.
That's cool of you,
but there's more to it.
All right. Well, I get it.
But that's too bad.
[somber music playing]
Oh. Hey. Whoa. Come on, guys.
You can't be here.
Get your ass down, man.
You don't want any trouble.
[Boss] Don't leave your back open!
When you're in the cage,
think about your legs, okay?
- Oh, fuck me.
- [ominous music playing]
Boss! Boss! Boss!
Boss!
Boss? Ibrahim's here with his crew.
[Boss] Okay.
How dare you come back after what you did.
What's wrong?
I thought you'd be happy to see
your favorite student again.
I guess you're just bitter 'cause I'm
winning all the belts while you're
stuck out here in this shitty little club.
- Fuck this guy!
- Hey. Take it easy, boys. Calm down.
That's exactly what he wants, okay?
Everyone chill out.
You want a star? Here I am.
You know what I think of you.
You've brought shame to the sport.
Now the get the hell outta my club.
Hey. I'm here to bring you losers
some exposure, that's all.
- [all clamoring]
- Right, guys?
- Take it easy, okay.
- I need a sparring partner.
- Everybody just stay cool.
- I want someone to train with me.
You'll be well-compensated.
We're paying good money here.
You won't find anyone here.
We know who you are.
What you do, that's not sparring.
So take your shitty little camera,
and get out.
Why should I? You afraid I'm gonna
break one of your fighters?
- You don't speak for them.
- Just take it easy, boys!
Maybe someone's got the balls to do it.
Huh?
- You want to?
- You a champion or just some little bitch?
Who do you think you are?
You wanna go? Piece of shit!
You're fucking dead!
No one's scared of you!
Don't play his game!
You're smarter than that!
I guess that's it.
Everybody just be cool!
This is exactly what he wants!
Don't play his game!
- Back off.
- What's the problem?
Are you training MMA fighters
or dancers in here?
- Nobody wants to go? Huh?
- Nobody wants to.
- Nobody'll fight me?
- Nobody wants to.
- Really?
- You won, nobody wants to take you on.
- Nobody wants to go?
- No.
Oh, wow.
Well, I can feel the tension in here.
- No, no, no! Look at me. Hey, bro!
- Who wants to go?
- Hm.
- That's it. Just get outta here.
- [Taylor] I'll do it.
- [dramatic tone plays]
[tense music continues]
I'll do it, I can spar.
Who are you? What've you done?
I'm an amateur.
Three wins, one loss, 78 kilos.
Hey. Nobody's fighting here.
Take your reality TV crew
and get out of my gym.
Boss. I wanna fight. Let me do it.
Is he crazy?
Kid, listen. If you're trying
to impress me, this isn't the right way.
I'm doing it.
We good? Ready to go?
That's good. This kid's eager.
You're not gonna try to stop him, are you?
[music fades out]
[sighs]
[fighter] Stop, please! I give up!
I'm tapping out! Stop!
[fighter whimpering]
[Bilal] You see this? This is what he did
to another guy two months ago.
And look at that!
- The guy taps out, he breaks his arm.
- [fighter screaming]
He does it every time!
He has a fight, two weeks before,
- he spars with someone, he breaks
- Bilal, I know!
I just want you to show me how he moves,
so I have a plan to beat the guy.
Are you completely nuts, dude?
You know what he'll do to you?
Niko, you know everybody
here ignores me, yeah?
But now, they'll all be looking at me.
So either I'm doing this alone,
or with my boy in my corner.
[mouthing] No.
Oh, come on.
[tense music playing]
You know you're no match for him,
right? This is dangerous, Taylor.
Thanks for the warning.
But I'm doing this.
[striking pads]
This isn't gonna solve anything, man.
Come on.
Let's go! Let's go! Come on, again!
[Ibrahim grunting]
Yes, again!
Yes!
Good. Again!
Good, again!
- What's he doing, Boss?
- [trainer] Again!
No idea. Don't know him.
[trainer] Let's go, again.
You good? All set?
Come on. You even warmed up?
'Cause from here it looks like
you're shitting yourself.
Let's go, champ!
[Ibrahim] Man, what are you doing?
Take that shit off, man.
You need to feel it.
Get rid of it. Come on.
Take it off.
You got this.
Okay, Ibrahim, strong start!
Aggressive. Don't hesitate.
- Go Taylor!
- Come on! Fast! Go, go, go!
[Niko] Hands up!
Ibrahim! Kill him, champ!
- [trainer] Get mean. No mercy!
- Stay light! Use your jab.
- [trainer] Let's go!
- [Niko] Now!
- Aggressive!
- Take him out.
[Niko] Guard up!
[Niko] Weave! Get out of the way!
Weave. Nice!
[man] Keep on him!
Corner that little shit!
- You got him, Ibrahim! Come on! Strong!
- Don't let up! Keep pressing!
[Niko] Use your legs.
Keep up the footwork.
Good! That's good. Come on!
- [trainer] Yeah! Good! Again!
- Fucking hell.
Make sure you keep filming.
- This'll be over soon.
- Again!
[trainer] Come on!
- Let's go!
- He's scared. He's terrified of you!
- He's scared of you!
- [Taylor] Whoa.
- [Niko] Move! Move!
- [trainer] Yeah! That's it!
Yo. You're scared?
Come here, little guy. Let's go!
[trainer] He's scared!
- Keep it up! That's great!
- [man] Tear him apart!
- Taylor, get off axis!
- [man 2] All right! Let's go, Taylor!
Come on! Do it! Do it now!
[trainer] Guard! Yes!
- [grunting]
- [trainer] There you go!
I'm getting all of this! Go!
- Again, again, again!
- [all groaning]
[trainer] Excellent, Ibrahim!
[man] Yeah, that's it!
Look, I'm paying you to fight.
Not run away!
If you're scared to get hit,
you should take up swimming.
- No, don't play his game.
- Come on.
[man] Take him out! Take him out!
Knock him down! Come on!
You think it's a joke?
Come on, Taylor!
Get him, Taylor.
[Ibrahim] Yes!
Boss, we gotta do something.
We have to help.
Just keep watching. You'll wanna see this.
Hey, kid! Listen up. You either fight
or you get out of the cage!
But you gotta do something.
- Get up, bro.
- Okay? Get up! Come on!
Don't let him corner you.
And keep off-axis!
He's not pulling his punches.
Go.
- [man] Finish him, Ibrahim.
- [Niko] Stay out of his way!
- Go on, Taylor! Go!
- Move! Move your ass!
[Taylor grunting]
Shit.
[Niko] Guard up!
Get out of there!
Yeah, keep going!
[Niko] Get out of there!
Move, Taylor.
[all shouting]
Stop! Stop it! Stop!
Hey! This is sparring, this isn't a fight!
Yo, what the fuck are you doing?
- [Boss] Calm down! Take it easy, Niko!
- [man] Get out of there!
[Boss] Come on.
[man] Hell yeah, Ibrahim.
Keep your guard up! Hey! Wake up!
Guard up!
Guard up!
Get him! Break his legs, Ibrahim!
Fuck him up! Yeah! Break him, yeah!
Yeah! You got him man!
- [man] Hell, kick his ass. Finish him.
- [trainer] Good! You got it. Get him!
- Go on! Show him man!
- [trainer] That's it, yeah! Come on.
- Come on, Ibrahim! You got it.
- Okay.
Sweep him! Sweep him! Do it!
- [Bilal] Ooh!
- That's it!
- [woman] Yeah!
- [Boss] Good!
- That's good, kid.
- Stop filming! Kill the camera!
I'm gonna fuckin' kill you, kid.
- Boss! Can I go live on the gym's socials?
- Yeah, do it.
- [Niko] Come on!
- You got this, Taylor.
[all cheering]
Yeah! Yeah!
Yeah!
[cheering continues]
Let's go! Let's go.
Let's go!
You're okay, you're okay.
Come on, let's go! It's fine.
- He's not worth it.
- Let go. Get off me. Let go.
- Get off me!
- [heroic music playing]
Look at this guy's face right here.
- Drop it, motherfucker.
- [all chanting] Taylor! Taylor! Taylor!
Come on, man. You serious?
[chanting and cheering continues]
[Niko] Yeah!
Do you realize what you just did?
- Do you realize what you just did?
- [man] You did it, Taylor!
[all cheering]
[Bilal] Watch this. It's a masterpiece.
You see right here?
Boom! You get back up with confidence.
He comes in,
he's going to try something, then Bam!
There! That moment, you got him!
I was almost in tears. It was beautiful!
So I cried a bit! So what? Look,
I'm an emotional guy. I had to let it out.
This guy made me cry right here.
It was crazy, man.
Champ, I'll meet you outside.
I'll go clean up the locker room, I guess
[sighs]
So
That was pretty dumb.
But you did good.
- [laughs softly]
- [soft, uplifting music playing]
Thanks, Boss.
After that,
it would be a shame to give up.
You should stay with us.
And keep your guard up.
You got it.
WARSAW
POLAND
This is Pierre with NoSense TV. Ibrahim
what do you think of your opponent?
And do you have
any predictions for your fight?
I don't think anything.
Never watched one of his fights.
- Honestly, his ugly face hurts my eyes.
- [crowd gasp, chuckle]
I don't like him.
I don't like how he moves or his style.
He's not interesting to me as a fighter.
I predict I'm gonna finish him
as fast as possible
so I can fight somebody more worthy.
- [scattered laughter]
- [all] Oooh.
[reporter] Thank you.
Hello, Ibrahim. Anes with MMA Culture.
All of us have seen the video where you
got KO'd brutally by a young fighter.
- Do you have anything to say about that?
- I wasn't KO'd, no.
And besides, today,
we're here to talk about my fight.
Ibrahim, you have to admit,
you've never been knocked out
like that before, have you?
Tell them, champ.
Okay, listen up.
The kid did well for himself,
I'll allow it.
He got a little fame.
But we were sparring.
I wasn't warmed up.
We were training. He got a good shot.
If that'd been a real fight,
he'd be in the hospital.
The good thing is he pissed me off. I'm
gonna kick this bitch's ass even harder.
[all clamoring]
Calm down!
I think that's enough questions for today.
We'll see you at the fight.
- [knocking on door]
- Yeah?
- Can we talk for a sec?
- Come on in.
Uh
So I wanted to
I wanted to ask about my training
and, uh, what's next.
What do you mean?
Like, what's next for me.
After the fight you told me to stay.
I figured that meant
we'd be working together.
Um
Listen, I said you should stay
because I didn't want you to quit, yeah?
What you did,
not just anyone could do that, but
it doesn't change
what I said to you in the parking lot.
I'm sorry
if you got a different impression.
- But, uh
- Hm.
I think I was pretty clear.
Uh, Ciryl Gane asked me if I would
go on his podcast tonight.
That's great.
And tons of people will be watching.
For sure.
And like, people are gonna
be talking about me, you know.
Good for you. Well, if that's what
you want, then do it. That's great.
Hm.
Okay.
- Well then, see ya around.
- See you.
- All right, boys. I'll see you around.
- See ya.
Redouane.
Yeah, Boss?
Aren't you training with Ahmad?
I gotta go but I'll be back.
- What's going on? Where you going?
- It's just an hour.
I'll come straight back, Boss.
Redouane, man.
You've gotta stay focused on your goal.
Cage Warrior title's coming up.
You have to be ready for it.
I know, Boss.
- I know.
- I'll be waiting.
I'll be waiting!
[crew members chattering]
Hey. Georges St-Pierre reposted the video.
That's impossible.
No. Check it out! Seriously!
Are you sure? Is it like a fake account,
or a fan page or something like that?
- [Niko] Message him.
- I can't just message him. It's GSP.
- [Ciryl] What's up, everybody?
- We'll talk later. Okay.
Here to support me, my two associates,
no introductions needed.
- Mathias and Théo.
- So cringe.
- Thanks for being here, guys.
- [all laughing]
We also have a third guest.
A surprise guest.
Yesterday, a video
featuring this guy went viral.
You know what I'm talking about.
- For real.
- Absolutely.
The video shows the infamous
Ibrahim getting knocked out.
Was it a stroke of luck?
Or a stroke of genius?
That's what he's here to
talk to us about tonight.
- Taylor.
- Let's go.
[Mathias and Theo clapping]
- [Taylor] Hey, man.
- KO, bro!
You're such a shit.
- How you doing?
- You good?
- How are ya?
- All good, Ciryl?
- Can't complain. Thanks for joining.
- Thanks for having me.
- Congrats on your success.
- Thanks, I appreciate that.
To get us started, we'll do
a little ''get to know you'' exercise.
- Who's your favorite fighter?
- Excellent question.
- No pressure.
- Uh
[laughing nervously]
No, that's a really good question. Uh
For me,
it's tempting to talk about Jon Jones.
But I wouldn't
wanna offend our friend Cyril.
It's all good man.
No problem, I'll get over it.
- He's all broken up.
- No, I'm good.
Uh No. Uh
For me,
the other UFC GOAT is Georges St-Pierre.
- Absolutely.
- Okay, good answer.
Guy's got three UFC belts,
two different categories. I get it.
Yeah, but there's more to it
than accolades, right?
There are so many factors.
Like Like his mindset,
the way he moves inside the cage,
he just he owns it, you know?
- Absolutely.
- For me, he's the ultimate role model.
Keep dreaming, KO bro.
Maybe you'll get there some day.
- That's harsh.
- Someone had to say it.
One knockout on YouTube's
a long way from Georges St-Pierre.
- With some training he can get there.
- Kid's got balls, I'll give him that.
Come on, guys.
We're just saying that
because we did some digging.
- Okay.
- We like to do research before the show.
- [sucks teeth]
- Uh Yeah
And uh. [laughing]
Look, we found a video. Don't worry, man.
- [Mathias] Relax. It's fine.
- I don't know what's going on.
On our deep dive,
we found a video of your first fight.
Okay.
Remember it?
- Ring any bells?
- Uh
We have a clip. Let's watch it. [laughing]
Look over there.
You'll take a trip down memory lane.
- Over here?
- Yeah, that screen.
[people shouting on video]
[circus music playing]
[Théo] Look at him run!
[music ends]
Wow. You two are the worst.
[Mathias] Nah, it's nothing.
- At least you run pretty fast.
- We'll give you that one! [laughing]
No, but
Ah! [mocking running sounds]
No, listen. It's just, like
[laughs nervously]
When you show just that clip,
it looks pretty funny.
- You guys took it out of context.
- Bunch of idiots.
The truth is, I was, uh
uh I was in a really bad position.
That was obvious.
- He surprised me.
- Really?
- I tried to get out of that situation.
- Yeah, man. You reacted well.
[laughing] Sorry!
No, but the thing is I won that fight.
That's what I was going to ask.
He won the fight.
[Théo] Right, he won.
Putting me on the spot with the video
You guys picked the
worst moment of the fight.
[Gane] Don't worry.
These clowns are just being stupid.
- [Théo] Got it.
- It's taken out of context.
So coming back to Ciryl's first question.
[laughing] Your fight against Ibrahim,
just luck or genius?
Nah. Come on, guys
- If I had to choose I'd say luck!
- [Ciryl] Okay, yeah.
Look. What's important here is that
with Ibrahim, you were efficient.
In this fight, less so.
- But in any case, you beat the guy.
- Yeah, of course.
Then that's what matters!
Just ignore these two.
Listen, Taylor,
what do you hope to achieve in the sport?
- Your goals
- Well, listen, Ciryl.
My ambition's always been the same.
And I've still got the same goals now.
So my plan is to train hard, win belts,
and become a champ
so I can compete in the UFC.
That's what I want. And it won't change.
[whistling] Big head.
[mimics balloon inflating]
Wait, wait, wait.
Hang on, let's call Dana White.
Dana, my brother. [all laughing]
If you can hear me, we've got
a fucking specimen for you right here.
- I've got Taylor Keita from France.
- Taylor!
In the red corner, from France!
- [Gane] What an idiot!
- [Théo] The champ is here!
- Listen.
- No, it suits you.
Seriously, it's important to dream,
to have people we look up to,
to have ambition.
Keep doing what you're doing
and work hard.
- Perseverance.
- Yeah. I get it, yeah.
Yeah, no,
but seriously we're just kidding.
- Of course.
- You're a good-looking kid.
We wish you the best.
- All right. Thanks, guys.
- Plus, you're a fast runner.
[all laughing]
Right. Come on, guys.
It's about time for us to move on.
You sticking around for the Q&A?
If you want me to stay.
You sure you don't wanna
go and train some more?
That's enough, guys!
Cut it out! Stop, stop, stop!
We're moving on to the next segment.
Get the playlist ready!
- [Boss] All right, is everyone here?
- [fighters] Yeah!
As you all know, today we're honored
to welcome MMA fighters
Atch, Salahdine Parnasse,
and Ramzan Jembiev for a masterclass.
- Let's give them a round of applause!
- [all cheering]
Atch, thanks for coming.
The floor is yours.
Yeah. Thanks so much for the warm welcome.
The boys will be giving
you a demonstration.
And today's themes:
boxing techniques, MMA-style.
Let's go, gentlemen.
Let's go!
All right, Ram,
get in there as soon as you can.
[both grunting]
[all exclaiming]
[both grunting]
[Atch] Good! Ram, check your distance! Go!
- Extend on the jab!
- [phone dinging]
[Atch] And down! Go!
Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bah! Yes!
Good! Keep moving.
Hey. Are you kidding?
We're in the middle of a masterclass,
and you're on your phone
reading angry comments from trolls?
Put it away.
[Atch] Don't stay down, Ram!
You get up, right away! Right away! Up!
[Atch] That's it!
Wait, look.
Ibrahim's fight's been cancelled.
His opponent's injured.
Who cares about that? Put your focus here.
[Atch] Get up, Ram! You can't
stay down like that for a long time! Go!
Good
- [punches landing]
- [audience exclaiming]
[man on TV] Look, Antoine,
everyone knows that now.
MMA revolutionized combat sports.
UFC champions have become
stars in their own right.
But, I still believe to fight in the UFC,
you need something a little extra.
[Antoine] Totally agreed, Taylor.
And remember folks, tomorrow,
it's the return of UFC Paris,
the most anticipated event of the year
for MMA fans.
And we're going to be bringing
you all the action, live.
We'll take the opportunity to look
back on the week's highlights,
including that viral video
of Ibrahim getting KO'd.
[Ibrahim on TV] I'm gonna
fuckin' kill you, kid.
- [audience exclaiming]
- [intriguing music playing]
[Antoine] Our experts will be
analyzing all the fights,
and giving you their predictions
for the champion.
All that and more, tomorrow on RMC Sports.
It'll be an incredible night at UFC Paris.
We're gonna see the return of our warrior,
Benoit Saint-Denis.
Manon Fiorot's got a big fight.
And of course we're gonna have the one
and only sniper, Nassourdine Imavov.
Not to mention Ciryl Gane.
[Antoine] That's right, Ciryl is facing
off against a terrifying new heavyweight.
All that and more, tomorrow on RMC Sports.
All right, Taylor, let's get back
to the question on everyone's lips
- Yo.
- Hey Bilal, what's up?
What's up, man?
Hey, uh, do you still have
that UFC ticket for tomorrow?
- You didn't sell it?
- [Bilal] Of course I didn't.
Someone offered me five grand.
Lemme ask you, man.
And just before you say no
[Bilal] No.
Bilal. Just give me a second to explain.
You gotta trust me on this.
Hey. If you want my ticket,
trust me, dude. It's not happening.
[music ends]
- Evenin'.
- Good evening.
- Good evening.
- All right, have a good night.
- Thank you.
- Thanks.
- Good evening.
- Hey.
- All right, thanks.
- Thanks.
[inspiring music playing]
[crowd murmuring]
What are you talking about?
He's never getting signed.
He's not a fighter, he's a piece of meat.
Screw that guy.
Yeah, okay. I'll call you back, ciao.
[people chattering]
What's going on, team?
How are we today?
- Hey, champ.
- Hey. What's up?
[MMA updates continue on TV]
- You good?
- Always.
- You guys doing okay?
- Great.
Hey, got some good news.
I'm about to get you a massive payday.
It's through a sports betting website.
- Excellent. Get me some cash.
- That's what I'm here for.
There's no need
to introduce Ibrahim Ibara,
who's rightly earned
the name The Destroyer.
[all] Yeah!
No stranger to victories or controversies.
Constantly going viral.
He's put his own unique stamp on his brand
by uploading
his brutal sparring matches online.
[Antoine] But The Destroyer's
last sparring bout didn't go as expected.
- Let's take a look.
- What the hell?
[on TV] I'm gonna fuckin' kill you, kid.
[Antoine] What do you make of this?
[host on TV] Well, I think when you're
deep in the world of MMA at this level
Hey. Don't worry about it.
By tomorrow this'll all be forgotten.
I hired a couple of guys.
Specialists when it comes to
scrubbing content from the Internet.
They're gonna get rid of
every copy that's out there.
In 24 hours, it'll be absolutely gone.
You have my word.
[Taylor 2] That's what happened
to French MMA's bad boy.
So this little guy
Sorry, I shouldn't have said that.
This promising young fighter who
gave the Destroyer a run for his money,
his name is Taylor. Taylor Keita.
- Whoo!
- Now he's not wasting his shot.
He reached out to the RMC
editorial board over Instagram
because he has a couple of things
he wants to say. So here he is.
Please welcome Taylor Keita.
Glad to have you here with us, Taylor.
It'll be fine.
[host] Welcome to your future home.
[all cheering]
This dude is nuts.
He really pulled this off.
Hold on. We're not 100% there.
We'll start with you introducing yourself.
Go for it.
Well, um, thanks so much for inviting me.
- And, uh
- [shushing]
I mean, it's kind of weird being here.
I'm a big fan of the show,
and of all of you.
I like the kid already.
Flattery will get you everywhere,
as we all know.
Now, Taylor, uh You had
something to announce here, didn't you?
[Taylor] Yup. Right, so the reason I'm
here tonight, the reason I came on, uh
- Sorry, where should I be looking?
- Uh, the red light.
Ah, okay. I'm here to talk to you because,
as we all know,
Ibrahim's opponent from the KSW,
he, uh Well, he forfeited.
What is he doing?
And, well, in light of that,
I offer myself to replace him.
- Hell yeah! Come on, Taylor! Woo!
- [all cheering]
- That little son of a bitch.
- Hang on. Look, I like you, kid.
We share a name and honestly,
that's a pretty good start. Good name.
But, uh, listen. I have to ask.
Are you serious or is this a stunt?
It's one thing to challenge someone,
to say that you want to fight them.
You're serious? There's no going back.
No, look, Taylor, I'm I'm ready.
I've made weight.
Uh, I already laid him up once.
And he knows it.
[all laughing]
For real?
This little piece of shit wants to die.
you have your doubts.
[Taylor] And Ibrahim, hiding
behind his TV, he does too.
Bitch.
But I wanna tell you
and your little fanboy crew
[fanboy 1] Does he know
who he's messing with?
[fanboy 2] Whoa!
that the trainer I'm working
with is someone you all know.
- [all exclaiming]
- Cool, man.
Hang on. Wait a sec people!
So follow my socials, if you want
to find out who I'm talking about.
And when I'm back, I'm gonna knock you out
even harder than the first time.
[all cheering]
I'm gonna fuck him up. What's his game?
Hey. That's legendary what
he's doing right now. Legendary
That is so wild, man.
[host] It would seem the opening
salvo has been fired.
Either way,
it's already going viral online.
Hey, champ. If you want my opinion,
it might be a good idea.
How is that a good idea?
I'm the actual champion!
I'm not fighting that asshole.
Motherfucker's just using me
to build up his own buzz!
There'll be no fight!
End of story, end of discussion.
You understand me?
I understand, champ. I understand.
[phone ringing]
Hey, champ.
Well, I did it.
It went exactly as planned and
[dramatic music playing]
I think it turned out pretty well.
So now we get into it.
See you in Montreal.
Don't worry, I know how
we can get him to agree to the fight.
Thanks.
[dramatic music rises]
[music ends]
[tense music playing]
[music ends]