An Eye for Salvation

There was once a man,
Who gave it his all.
Worked hard his entire life,
And one day he got a call.

Michael Bisping, he never peaked.
He beat the best, bested the odds,
And he got a chance, his attention piqued,
He was going to fight for the belt.
He was scared, all his confidence did melt.
This was his moment, to join the gods.

“Fighting out of Manchester, England
The challenger, Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping”
The time was now, the stage grand.
“I beat him once, this is easy,” Luke reckons,
He was ready today, destiny beckons,
The Champion, Luke, was musing, doing his thing.

The fight starts, they both land kicks.
The champion looks menacing,
They are cautious, but the champ didn’t fix—
His defence, his hands are down,
Michael gets hit, no frets, no frown,
The crowd is there, the silence is deafening.

If you fight with your ego intact
You best believe you’ll go down
If you want to stay up, you need to act—
Humble, you still need to work hard.
Not Luke, he thought this was his yard,
But he forgot that this wasn’t his town.

Michael finally got him,
Three minutes in, he hit a jab with his left.
Luke was knocked down, the lights dim
He tried getting up but Michael was there,
He hit him with another left and a pair—
Of punches, Luke was bereft.

Just like that, it was all over.
Michael had won, the crowd went wild,
Nobody expected this takeover,
Nobody thought Mike would win.
It was total domination, a victory akin
To David’s versus Goliath, Mike smiled.

He had done it, he was ecstatic now.
It was in Manchester, his world.
His family was here, he celebrated and how,
It was finally done, he embraced his coach.
He was happy, his retirement would approach,
But not now, now the English flag unfurled.

He fought again, valiantly so,
But the sport took away so much.
He had already lost his eye long ago,
There was only so much he could give.
He had lived like few would live,
He left while he still had his touch.

He was the baddest, standing alone,
All the naysayers he had slain.
Never forgotten, his legacy writ in stone.
Having fought forever, he would now rest.
Choosing to leave is something people detest,
But the Count knew he would never fight again.

There was once a man, who gave it his all.
Fought every fight with a wry grin,
Won everything he wanted to win,
And was known for his bravery and gall.

Written by Aniket Awasthi for MTTN
Featured Image by Akshaya Ramesh for MTTN