Capitalist Boxer III: Risk and Reward
by Dragon
Frank issues Elaine the "Ultimate" challenge.



Originally, all I had wanted was to experience a boxing match with 
a woman. Elaine had given me that experience the first time we met. 
The second time we met, I wanted to beat her. I hadn't gotten that 
experience, and I didn't think I ever would. But now I was looking 
for what? Why was I so obsessed by her? Was it the way she had 
handled me? I probably wouldn't have had as much of a problem 
dealing with the memory of our encounters if she hadn't dominated me 
so thoroughly. But it went deeper than that. I had gone out with a 
few women in the last three years, and my biggest problem was that I 
couldn't even look at them without comparing them with Elaine. A 
comparison that they inevitably fell short in. I think that's why I 
needed to see her beaten. If I was to ever get a moments peace, I 
had to see the legend destroyed.

"Frank! I'm surprised to hear from you so soon. But like my father 
used to tell me, you've got to climb right back on the horse that 
threw you. And I threw you pretty good, didn't I?

"Yes Elaine, yes you did. In fact, you're so good, that I've given 
up on the idea of beating you."

"Then what are you looking for?"

"I'd like to pay you to fight another woman."

I could hear the disgust in Elaine's voice as she said, "I've had 
men ask me to fight their wives and girlfriends while they sit in a 
corner with their pants down around their ankles. It's sick, and the 
answer is no."

"Oh, she isn't my wife or my girlfriend. In fact, I hardly know her. 
She's a professional boxer, and I'm willing to pay to see her beat 
the stuffing out of you."

"I should have known that you'd be looking for something different. 
Why don't you tell me a little about her."

After I had given Elaine a truthful account of Maureen's experience 
and ring record, she said, "Why not. I've always wondered how I'd do 
against another woman. OK Frank, I'll do it for one hundred thousand 
plus expenses."

"That's ridiculous!" I sputtered. "You only charged me three grand 
for our first match. I'll give you fifty."

"One hundred."

"Listen, I'll match the largest purse ever awarded to a female 
boxer, seventy five."

"Whoever came up with that number, didn't check my tax returns, one 
hundred."

"OK, one hundred, but you pay your own way out."

"No."

"Bitch!!!"

"I assume that means we have a deal. I can be out within two days of 
receipt of the money."



I had previously spoken to Maureen about fighting Elaine, and she 
had been enthusiastic about the idea of boxing a woman in her weight 
class. She probably would have done it for free, but I decided to 
pay her ten thousand dollars just for showing up. And as a little 
extra incentive for her to win, I offered her a twenty thousand 
dollar bonus if she knocked Elaine out.

We had arranged for the match to take place in the gym where Maureen 
and I trained. Maureen's brother worked as a trainer there and she 
had her own key. On the night of the match, I let Elaine into the 
gym an hour after closing. Maureen was already warming up. After I 
introduced the two women, Elaine excused herself to change in the 
locker room. I took the opportunity to give my fighter some last 
minute instructions.

"... and remember, Elaine's a head hunter, so keep covered up."

"Don't worry Frank, nobody's ever knocked me out, not even my 
brother. You'll be getting your money's worth tonight."

Maureen was confident, and I was hopeful. Before I had arranged the 
match, I had taken the opportunity to spar with her a bit. Though 
she never knocked me out as fast as Elaine could, she did hit just 
as hard, and she had an iron jaw.

Elaine returned from the dressing room wearing a pair of gray laced 
shorts with a matching gray top. She had her hair loosely tied in a 
ponytail, and I frowned a bit when I noticed that damned lock of 
hair dangling in front of her left eye. I still had nightmares about 
it. Maureen was wearing a cute green and white pair of trunks 
decorated with shamrocks, and a white tank top. Both women were 
wearing red, eight ounce gloves.

As the two women met in the center of the ring, and touched gloves, 
Elaine said, "Don't worry, I'll try not to hurt you."

Maureen got a bit flushed and said, "I think you had better worry 
about yourself bitch!"

Maureen had only know Elaine three minutes, and she already shared 
my assessment of her.

Maureen went right after Elaine as soon as the bell sounded. Elaine 
spent the first half of the round retreating from Maureen with her 
gloves held low, giving the Irish girl a target to swing at. And 
swing at it she did. But rather than blocking her, Elaine just 
leaned back out of range of most of her punches. 

I had never seen Elaine fight from this perspective, and I couldn't 
help but admire the way she moved around the ring with the natural 
speed and grace of a jungle cat. I was also beginning to feel bad 
for Maureen. She was much better than I was, but she still looked as 
if she would be badly outclassed by Elaine.

Towards the end of the round, Elaine struck back with a left-right 
combination that stopped Maureen dead. Maureen shook her head and 
charged straight into a big right hand that caught her in the mouth 
just before the bell sounded. Maureen reached up and removed her 
mouthpiece.

Smiling at Elaine through bloody teeth, she said, "If that's the best 
you've got, you're in trouble missy."

I looked at Maureen with a lot more respect as round two started. 
Instead of backing off, she crowded Elaine even closer as she fired 
punches into her body. Elaine continued to retreat as she hit 
Maureen with a score of punches that had the Irish girl's head 
flying around on her neck.

At the end of the round, it was hard to tell whether any of 
Maureen's body shots had hurt Elaine, but it was easy to see the 
damage that the brunette had inflicted. Maureen's face was a mess. 
She was bleeding from the nose, cut over the left eye, and a mouse 
was beginning to swell up on her right cheek. I worked to clean my 
fighter up in her corner as Elaine stood in hers waiting for the 
next round. I wasn't too worried about throwing in the towel just 
yet. The Irish girl was tough as nails and most of the damage was 
superficial. 

The bell sounded for round three as I withdrew to stand on the apron 
outside Maureen's corner.

As she moved to the center of the ring, Elaine called over to me, 
"Are you sure you want to stand that close to the action Frank?"

"Why not?" I called back, but Elaine just smiled and shrugged her 
shoulders.

As the two women met, Elaine stood her ground and invited the 
redhead to engage her in a body punching contest. The big Irish girl 
was more than happy to accept as the sounds of hollow thuds and 
grunting echoed through the empty gym. Suddenly, there came a 
considerably louder "THUMP", and Maureen went down clutching her gut.

"Oh God," she groaned, as she shook her head.

"What's the matter missy? Too much beer, and not enough sit-ups?" 
Elaine asked.

Maureen slowly got to her feet and raised her gloves to face Elaine. 
I was puzzled when the brunette didn't press her advantage. Instead, 
she seemed content to jab away at Maureen as the Irish girl got more 
and more frustrated. With thirty seconds left in the round, Elaine 
went on the offensive, driving my fighter into the ropes immediately 
to my left. Maureen tried to fight her way past, but Elaine nailed 
her with a nasty heart punch that knocked the wind out of her and 
left her leaning back on the ropes with her gloves around her waist.

Elaine looked over her left shoulder at me, and then back at 
Maureen. Without warning, she unleashed a right hook that smashed 
the redhead on the side of the face. Maureen's head twisted 
violently towards me, and I got showered with a spray of blood, 
sweat, and saliva. As an extra bonus, the big girl's mouthpiece flew 
out and struck me in the eye. As Maureen started to fall, Elaine 
stepped forward and caught her in a bear hug, and then walked her 
towards me.

"Get her stool ready," Elaine commanded.

I set the stool up in the corner as Elaine gently lowered Maureen 
onto it. Stripping off her gloves, Elaine helped me to revive the 
Irish girl.

As we worked, she asked, "Well Frank, was it everything you wanted? 
You did see somebody get the stuffing knocked out of them. Hell, 
you're covered with it. Too bad it's not mine. If it makes you feel 
better, I think I broke a nail." Elaine lifted her hand and extended 
her ring finger. Looking closer she said, "Sorry, that's just a 
piece of tape."

"You bitch!"

Elaine smiled a predatory smile, and said, "If you're finished 
hiding behind this girl's skirt, perhaps you'd like to try me 
yourself."

"No."

"Come on Frank, I'm having a special tonight. I'll give you a shot 
at me for a buck."

My face reddened from the shame and humiliation that Elaine was 
making me feel. I would have liked nothing better at that moment 
than to jam my fist into that smiling face, but I knew that Elaine 
would feed me my teeth if I tried it. The tension between us was 
broken by a booming voice that echoed through the darkened gym.

"What the hell's going on here!"

For some reason, Maureen's brother Clancy had decided to stop by the 
gym after hours. As he approached the ring, it was obvious that he 
had been drinking. Seeing his sister slumped on the stool, covered 
in her own blood, he climbed through the ropes.

"Who did this?" he demanded.

But it was clear that it was a rhetorical question as the huge man 
started to advance on Elaine.

"Do something Frank," Elaine said as she started to back away.

It was my turn to smile.

"Why should I? This was probably the next thing I was going to pay 
for, and now I get to see it for free."

Clancy took a drunken swing at Elaine which she ducked leaving him 
tangled momentarily in the ropes.

"All you're going to see is how fast I can run from a free fight if 
you don't pony up another fifty grand."

Elaine had one foot through the ropes, and I knew she meant it.

"All right, fifty. Get her Clancy! She beat up your sister!"

The Irishman bellowed something incoherent and lunged after Elaine. 
The brunette slammed a couple of punches into his gut and then was 
forced to step aside to avoid his rush. Clancy turned to find Elaine 
waiting. Ducking under a straight right, she crowded him and started 
snapping his head back and forth like a speed bag. All Clancy could 
do was stand there in a stupor with his head bobbing around.

Without breaking her rhythm, Elaine looked over her shoulder at me 
and asked, "Are we having fun yet Frank? I know I am."

Elaine finished Clancy off with a flourish and then pushed him 
backwards. The man fell like a tree as he crashed to the canvas. I 
knew Clancy hadn't been at the top of his form, but I couldn't 
believe how easily she had polished him off.

"I haven't beaten up a drunken Irishman since my year at Notre Dame. 
Back in those days you could watch me do this every day of the week 
and twice on Saturdays. Are there any other siblings you'd like me 
to take care of while I'm here?" Elaine took my stunned silence as a 
"No." "So what's next Frank? Would you like me to wrestle an 
alligator? How about a boxing kangaroo? I know, a cage match with a 
Kodiac Bear. I mean, unless you want to dial 1-800-be-a-man and take 
me on yourself. Well Frank?"


"I'll get back to you," I said through clenched teeth.



So, she was up for a cage match with a Kodiac Bear. Well, I didn't 
want to see an innocent animal get hurt, but I knew where I could 
find an acceptable substitute. A few days later I called Elaine.

"Hello Elaine?"

"Frank! It's so good to hear from my best customer. Are you ready to 
go again?"

"I'd like to offer you another match."

"So shoot."

"I want you to face Ben Rothrock in a UFC style cage match."

There were a few seconds of stunned silence on the other end of the 
line before Elaine said, "You want me to face Ben 'The Beast' 
Rothrock in a cage? The man who was banned from the UFC for biting 
his last opponent's nose off. I don't think you have enough money to 
get me to do something that stupid. Now if you'd like me to do 
something a little more reasonable like..."

"I'll pay you one million dollars."

This time, I didn't hear anything for a full fifteen seconds before 
Elaine said, "Could you repeat that?"

"I'll pay you one million dollars to fight Ben Rothrock in a UFC 
style cage match."

"Uh, could I get back to you Frank?"

"Sure, the offer will be open."

I didn't blame Elaine for hesitating. In fact I had expected her to 
turn me down cold. Ben "The Beast" Rothrock was the former five time 
UFC champion, who as Elaine noted, had been banned from the sport 
for biting off his opponent's nose. Footage of that incident had run 
on the news for weeks as country after country banned ultimate 
fighting, forcing the UFC to start conducting their tournaments in 
third world countries. That's why I was surprised when Elaine gave 
me her answer less than an hour later.

"Hello Frank, I've given your offer some thought, and I'll do it 
under the following conditions. First, the money will be placed in 
escrow before the fight, and will be released to a Swiss bank 
account in my name at the conclusion of the match, win or lose. 
Second, a UFC referee will oversee the match and declare the 
winner..."

"And third?" I prompted.

"Third, that animal Rothrock wears a muzzle. A million dollars won't 
do me any good if I have to spend it all on plastic surgery."

"OK Elaine, all of that can be arranged. When could you be ready?"

"Uh, if you don't mind, I'd like a few months to train for this."

"Take all the time you want Elaine. The Beast will be waiting."

Elaine's voice lacked its usual confidence, and it sounded as though 
she was making arrangements for her own funeral. After hanging up 
the phone, I felt a twinge of guilt, but it quickly passed as I 
savored the experience of hearing her squirm like a worm on a hook.



The night of the fight, I checked my watch. There were only a few 
minutes left before the start of the match, but Elaine hadn't shown 
up yet. I really wouldn't blame her if she chose not to come, but I 
knew she was on her way. She wouldn't renege on our deal.

The small warehouse I had rented for the event was dominated by a 
twenty foot square fighting cage. Constructed from chain link 
fencing and padded steel posts, it sat on a raised platform with a 
padded foam floor. There were a couple of steps leading through the 
small swinging door, the only way in or out of the cage. Elaine had 
been by the previous week to inspect the construct. She hadn't been 
too talkative as she looked over the cage and inspected the fencing 
for sharp edges. 

Rothrock was warming up inside the cage with a series of elbow slams 
to the empty floor. He was a heavily muscled man, about six one, two 
forty with black hair and black eyes. The only thing he was wearing 
was a brief pair of red shorts over a groin protector, a pair of 
thinly padded fingerless gloves, and of course the muzzle that 
Elaine had mandated. The booms reverberated through the small 
building like bombs going off. The Beast hadn't been particularly 
pleasant to deal with, and I had thought that he was going to rip my 
head off when I told him about the muzzle, and from the way he was 
battering the empty cage, it was clear that he was still pissed.

Rothrock was making so much noise, I didn't even hear Elaine come 
in. The next thing I knew, she was standing next to me watching in 
silence.

"Good evening Elaine. Right on time as always. You know, you can 
still back out of this," I said pleasantly.

"Fuck you Frank," she snapped.

Her terse reply caught me off guard. I could have thrown some of her 
own words back in her face from a previous encounter, but it was 
obvious that she was under a great deal of strain, and I didn't 
think that it would be appropriate. 

Turning to me, she said, "Sorry Frank. You're my customer, and I 
shouldn't have said that. A deal's a deal. Just give me a few 
minutes to warm up."

Taking off her navy blue trench coat, she was already dressed for the 
match in tight fitting black shorts and a sports bra. Her hair was 
braided into a ponytail, and she tucked it under her bra strap to 
keep it out of her face. I was a bit disappointed that her dangling 
lock of hair was conspicuously absent. Without any further comment, 
she started doing some stretching exercises and shadow boxing. 
Seeing the changes in her body, it was obvious that she had used the 
past three months to bulk up a bit. Her lines were still athletic 
rather than muscular, despite having added about ten pounds. After a 
few minutes, she signaled her readiness to begin. 

"Lets get this over with," she said as the referee held the cage 
door for her.

As Elaine had requested, the referee was from the UFC. Bigger than 
Rothrock, the man held three black belts. And if that wasn't enough 
to keep control over the match, the man had a small truncheon hidden 
in his pocket. 

Rothrock stood in the opposite corner, furthest from the door as his 
opponent entered the cage. Taking center stage, the referee looked 
at me for the go sign. Checking that the camera which would be 
recording the match was on, I flashed him a thumbs up.

Clearing his throat, he said, "This match will be a UFC style 
challenge match between on my left, boxer, kickboxer, wrestler, and 
holder of a black belt in goju-ryu karate, Elaine!"

Elaine waved weakly towards me.

"And on my right, champion shootwrestler, and three time UFC 
champion, Ben 'The Beast' Rothrock!"

Rothrock raised one of his big fists for the camera.

"The rules for tonight's fight are no strikes to the eyes, throat, 
or groin. No choke holds. There will be no time limit. The fight can 
be ended only by knockout or submission. When I say 'break', you 
break immediately. Oh, and no biting." Rothrock glared angrily at 
the man. Seeing that both competitors were ready, the referee 
signified the start of the match with a short chopping motion and 
yelled "Lets get it on!"

It was clear from the start that the Beast wasn't treating Elaine 
any differently from a male opponent as he cautiously advanced on 
her without over committing himself. As he got into range, Elaine got 
on her bicycle, circling and flicking kicks and punches at him. 
Rothrock stayed low and blocked most of her shots. Reaching out, he 
nearly snagged one of her feet as she threw a kick. Elaine backed 
off for a few seconds after that. Moving back in, she flicked a few 
more hands towards Rothrock's face. The man fired a short, straight 
right at Elaine. Evidently, this is what she had been waiting for as 
she immediately darted under the punch, hooked his shoulder, placed 
her leg behind his, and tried to lever him to the mat where she 
could put him in some type of submission hold. It was a gutsy all or 
nothing move. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Rothrock was too 
big, too stiff, and staying too low to the ground for her to budge 
him. 

Lifting his arm up, Rothrock brought his elbow crashing into the 
middle of Elaine's back driving her to the mat. He probably could 
have covered her at that point and won the match, But the Beast had 
other ideas. Reaching down, he fished Elaine's ponytail out from 
under her top and took hold of it with both hands. With a bellowing 
roar, he yanked her to her feet like a puppet on a string. Elaine 
instinctively reached behind her head to break his grip, but was 
powerless to stop him as he began swinging her around. Releasing 
her, he whipped her face first into the side of the cage, right in 
front of where I was standing. She hit with such force, the cage 
actually bulged towards me. Elaine's fingers curled through the 
links of the fence as she tried stay on her feet. 

Looking into her eyes from less than three feet away, I swore I saw 
a silent plea for mercy. And at that moment I saw Elaine for what 
she really was. She wasn't an indestructible amazon. She wasn't a 
sadist. And she especially wasn't a bitch. She was just a woman 
getting by in life doing what she was good at. And I also realized 
that what I had done was very wrong. Everybody has weaknesses that 
can be exploited. And I had used Elaine's weakness for money to lure 
her into taking a match that she normally wouldn't have even 
considered.

Seeing Rothrock closing on her from behind, I yelled, "Stop the 
match!"

But I was too late, Rothrock rammed his massive fist into her 
kidneys. Elaine's mouthpiece popped out as she arched her head back 
and screamed in agony. 

The referee wrapped his arms around the Beast and pulled him away. 
Elaine slumped to the mat with her eyes closed. Her breaths were 
coming in short bursts and she was moaning. I had gotten what I 
wanted. Elaine was beaten. But instead of the elation I had dreamt I 
would feel, I felt like shit. 

In the center of the cage, the beast grunted and broke the ref's 
hold. The referee tried to restrain him again by twisting his arm 
behind his back. Feeling the referee's interference, the Beast 
flexed a steroid pumped tricep and straightened his arm. Turning 
around, he clubbed the man like a baby harp seal, knocking him out 
cold. Turning his attention back to where Elaine was lying near the 
edge of the mat, the Beast again took her by the ponytail and yanked 
her to her feet with one hand. 

Elaine's eyes snapped open and she screamed, "No!"

"Rothrock! Stop, the match is over!" I yelled, but it was clear that 
he either wasn't listening, or more likely he didn't care.

Ignoring me, Rothrock hooked an arm between her legs and scooped her 
up. Pressing her thrashing figure over his head, he flung her clear 
across to the other side of the cage. This time Elaine bounced off a 
post and landed in a heap on her stomach. Rothrock straddled her 
prone figure and knelt on top of her. Reaching down, he wrapped her 
ponytail around his fist. Drawing his hand back slowly, he wrenched 
Elaine's neck to the breaking point. The look of panic on her 
face showed me that she was still conscious. By this time I had 
managed to fumble the door of the cage open and had climbed inside. 

Rothrock looked up at me and then smashed Elaine's face into the 
thinly padded floor so hard that I felt the impact through my shoes. 
Rushing him, I took his free arm and tried to pull him off of 
Elaine, but with a mighty shove, he sent me stumbling back towards 
the door, and then continued to pound Elaine's face. Running over to 
him again, I punted him in the side of his head. My toe connected 
just below his ear sending him flopping onto his back. As he tried 
to get up, I began to kick him in the ribs. Once, twice, on the 
third kick Rothrock caught my foot with his arm. Before I could 
react, he took my foot in both hands and savagely twisted it, 
sending me spinning to the floor. I screamed as I felt something rip 
in my knee. 

The Beast made his way over to me and stomped on the small of my 
back. Twisting some of my hair in his fingers, he started to treat 
me to some of what he had been giving Elaine. As my face was pulled 
up and smashed down, I saw that she had managed to crawl to the side 
of the cage and was pulling herself up. Each time my head came up, I 
could see that Elaine had made it a little further. The Beast 
finally noticed, and started to straighten up. Before he could take 
a step towards her, I desperately wrapped my arm around his ankle. 
He took a few shuffling steps dragging me along, and then he stopped 
to kick me in the side of the head while he tried to shake me off. 
My grip failed and the Beast continued towards his primary target. 
Twisting my head to look at Elaine, I could see that she had made it 
fully to her feet, but still had her back turned to Rothrock as he 
advanced on her like a Panzer tank.

"Elaine, look out!" I cried. 

Elaine spun around with her back to the fence. Reaching behind her, 
she hooked her fingers around the steel mesh. Lifting her smoothly 
muscled legs up, she mule-kicked the Beast right in the mouth with 
both feet. Rothrock's head snapped back and he crumpled to the 
floor unconscious. Ignoring her own pain, Elaine came over to check 
on me.

"Lets get out of here," I said.

"I'll get the referee," she replied.

Taking the referee under the armpits, Elaine dragged him outside. 
Quickly returning, she helped me to my feet and supported me under 
my arm as I hopped towards the door on my good leg. As we reached 
the opening, she maneuvered me through it and shoved me down the 
short flight of steps. Sitting up from where I landed, I looked back 
to see Elaine hesitating at the exit, a look of indecision on her 
face. The Beast began to stir. 

"Come on Elaine!"

A look of calm overcame her battered visage and she slowly closed 
the cage door and latched it shut.

"Elaine, what are you doing?!"

"I'm not leaving."

"Don't worry, You'll get your money. Please, just get out of there!"

Glancing back to check Rothrock's progress, Elaine said, "This isn't 
about money anymore Frank. I haven't been scared of anybody or 
anything in a long time, but I'm scared right now. And if I leave 
this cage before this is over, I'm going to have to live with that 
fear for the rest of my life. I'd rather die first."

"Elaine, you don't know what you're saying!"

"Oh, but I do Frank. And I've got you to thank. For the last couple 
of years I've been fighting for money without really giving a damn. 
But tonight I care. Keep your money. All I want now is to beat this 
son of a bitch."

By this time, Rothrock was standing fully erect. Elaine turned to 
face him.

"Come on asshole, we've got some unfinished business."

Reaching behind his head with both arms, Rothrock curled his fingers 
around the straps holding his muzzle in place. His massive 
musculature trembled for a second, and then the leather parted with 
a sharp "crack." Pulling the muzzle off, he flung it to one side. 
Turning his head, he spat out a gob of bloody saliva along with a 
few broken teeth. 

"Pretty speech bitch. But you just made a big mistake locking 
yourself in with me. Now I'm going to make you suffer."

"Before, I was trying to fight your fight. Now I'm going to show you 
mine."

Elaine moved in and hit the Beast with a quick kick-punch 
combination. No half hearted blows now as Rothrock grunted from a 
foot to his side. Elaine was moving with her old confidence now. A 
left jab to the face, a side kick to the knee, a right to the jaw, 
this was the woman that I had wanted to see. This was the woman that 
I... What? Respected? Admired? Loved? I didn't know anymore.

Rothrock grew tired of the game and came at Elaine with his arms 
spread wide in an attempt to take her down. Instead of trying to 
dart past him as he expected her to, Elaine jumped in his face and 
delivered a devastating head butt. The Beast stumbled backwards teary 
eyed with a broken nose that was gushing blood.

"Welcome to my world Mister Rothrock," Elaine said.

"You bitch!" Rothrock bellowed, as he charged her.

Elaine sidestepped and drove a kick into his back as he passed her. 
Rothrock hit the fence, but before he could turn around, Elaine 
wrapped her hands around his neck and started thrusting her knee 
into his kidneys. The Beast howled.


"Hurts, doesn't it?" she asked.

Turning around, Rothrock rammed Elaine into one of the posts 
dislodging her, and followed up with an elbow to her gut. Turning 
back, he picked her up under the arms and tossed her into the center 
of the cage. My stomach was doing somersaults as I watched Rothrock 
leap on top of Elaine's prone form. As the man left the ground, 
Elaine brought her knees up. A loud grunt echoed through the 
warehouse as the Beast splashed on top of her and cracked a couple 
of ribs. Rothrock slid off of Elaine and tried to catch his breath.

Wasting no time, Elaine rolled over on the Beast, intertwined her 
legs with his, and applied a painful, twisting ankle lock. Rothrock 
screamed and flopped around on the mat as she cranked it on.

"Say Uncle!" Elaine demanded.

His response was to start pounding Elaine's thigh with the heel of 
his free foot. Elaine gritted her teeth and cranked the hold 
tighter. The two fighters remained locked like that for a few 
minutes. An ugly purple bruise began forming on Elaine's leg from 
Rothrock's periodic blows, but she hung on stubbornly like a Pit 
Bull. The combatants were drenched in sweat and the discomfort was 
clear on both their faces. Elaine relaxed a bit and took a dozen 
deep breaths. Then every muscle in her body exploded with effort. 
Rothrock's back arched as if he had been hit with fifty thousand 
volts and he howled in agony. Elaine relaxed after a few seconds, 
rested a little more, and then hit him again. Rothrock smacked his 
palm on the mat, but Elaine wanted to be certain that he was 
submitting.

"Say it!"

Not getting any response, she backed off again. This time she laid 
on the mat for a good five minutes. Twice, Rothrock tried to catch 
her by surprise and twist out, but Elaine stopped him cold. Then 
with a cry of effort, I saw her thighs swell dangerously as she put 
tension on his knee while at the same time twisting his foot with 
the strength of her arms and torso. 

Pounding his fist on the mat, Rothrock yelled, "I give!"

Elaine redoubled her efforts.

"I submit! Uncle!"

Elaine relaxed, but she didn't release the hold.

"Say it Rothrock, who won?"

Not getting an answer, she threatened him with a little pressure.

"You did, you won!"

"My name is Elaine."

"Elaine! Elaine won!"

"And don't you forget it," she said as she relaxed and disdainfully 
pushed his foot away from her.

Disengaging herself from him, Elaine slowly rolled to her feet and 
started shuffling towards the cage door on wobbly legs. Rothrock 
tried to get up, but he wasn't physically able to after the torture 
that Elaine had just administered. The referee, who had regained 
consciousness sometime after Elaine had taken control, opened the door 
and helped her through.

Pausing on the steps, he raised Elaine's arm and announced, "The 
winner of the UFC challenge match, Elaine!"

Elaine gave me an enthusiastic, if a bit tired wave. I smiled as I 
noticed that my favorite lock of hair had broken free at some point 
during the action. It was stringy and soaked with sweat, but it 
still managed to dangle proudly in front of her face. Making her way 
to where I had been sitting, she offered a hand to help me up.

"Sorry about your boy Frank."

"It serves him right. I'm glad you kicked his ass."

"Oh, and when did you start rooting for me?"

"About two seconds after I realized what a jerk I've been."

"Like I say, the customer is always right. So anything else you'd 
like me to try? A martial arts match with Bruce Lee, Indian 
wrestling King Kong, tug-o-war with a monster truck?"

"Sorry Elaine, I give up. And I want you to take your money. You 
earned it."

"Thanks Frank. I think I'll use it to retire from this business."

"You're going to stop fighting?"

"I don't think I could stop fighting anymore than I could stop 
breathing. But thanks to you, I won't be doing it for money any 
longer."

"So you'll be fighting for free?"

Elaine winced, "Ouch, the sound of that hurts more than Rothrock's 
kidney punch, but yeah."

"Well good luck."

"Hey Frank, could I buy you a cup of coffee? I mean, after you get 
your leg cast."

"I'd like that. Since we both have to go to the emergency room, how 
about we share the ride?"

As we exited the building with the referee in tow, Elaine asked, 
"What about Rothrock?"

"It's only half a mile to the nearest phone. Let him crawl."

Elaine laughed as we headed off. The cup of coffee turned out to be 
just that, a cup of coffee with my new friend Elaine. We stayed in 
touch for awhile until she traveled to the Far East to study with 
some martial arts masters. I didn't hear from her for almost two 
years until I received an invitation from her along with an airline 
ticket. And I couldn't believe what that invitation was for... But 
that's another story.