Cultivating through increasing my stats in America

Chapter 109: Chapter 108 Classification by Weight

Chapter 109: Chapter 108 Classification by Weight

Up until now, Li Ang is still the only contestant of Asian descent.

Moreover, whether it’s in terms of height or appearance, Li Ang looks very much Chinese.

Vasily, being Russian, is actually quite familiar with Chinese people and has always been fascinated with China.

This is also why Li Ang attracted his attention so quickly.

Vasily’s fans naturally followed his gaze and discovered Li Ang for the first time.

“Wow, what do I see? Is that an Asian contestant?”

“That’s so rare. In my experience, Asians generally don’t participate in such crazy competitions.”

“I bet he’s of Chinese descent, such a handsome young man. I can’t imagine what his face would look like all swollen after being hit.”

“Shh, if he really is Chinese, I suggest you watch what you say. From my recent experience reading Chinese novels, they often kill someone’s entire family over something small.”

“Oh, sorry, I hope he didn’t hear that.”

Clearly, the words of this homebody made several other people who were discussing Li Ang suddenly stop talking.

Li Ang didn’t pay much attention to the noisy voices around him; instead, he watched with interest the weights of the other contestants being measured, while cooperating with Catina to shoot some short videos.

Most contestants’ weights were within the range of 80kg to 100kg.

Mainly because in this type of competition, if you don’t have some meat on your bones to take damage, you probably wouldn’t have the courage to participate.

Of course, there were also several beefy men who even outweighed Vasily, all without exception over 1.9 meters tall.

The size of their bodies compared to others was about two to three times as massive.

Ordinary people standing opposite them might not have the courage to continue the competition; after all, just one palm of their hand is bigger than Li Ang’s head, and one slap could easily send one to the hospital.

The line moved one by one, and soon it was Li Ang’s turn.

Watching the numbers on the scale’s digital display slowly jumping to 157, the crowd suddenly became noisy.

This weight was of course not very outstanding; 140-something pounds is considered skinny among all the contestants, but it wasn’t the least either.

The issue was that Li Ang’s weight of 157 pounds was just on the limit of the Lightweight Division at 155 pounds (70.3kg), which meant that Li Ang would be classified into the Middleweight Division.

The crowd became lively all at once because everyone thought that Li Ang had failed to make the weight cutoff.

Today’s contestants who came to weigh in, apart from the few who came with the idea that participating was what counted, most had just managed to get their weight at the very limit of their weight class.

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That is, if the limit was 155 pounds, they would typically be at 154 or 153 pounds.

To maximize their weight within the same weight class.

As you know, in this kind of purely physical competition, being one weight class heavier can indeed be a crushing advantage.

And Li Ang’s 157 pounds had just reached the threshold of the Middleweight Division, whereas the fighters truly active in this category were around 169 pounds or 168 pounds, which is a difference of nearly ten pounds.

Even the weigh-in staff asked Li Ang if he wanted to strip off his clothes and trousers, go to the toilet, and then re-weigh.

But Li Ang just shook his head nonchalantly and confirmed his weight.

“See, that’s the confidence of the strong. They simply don’t care about weight classes.”

“Strong? Are you joking? I think he’s just here to shoot some videos. After all, he’ll leave after one match; he really doesn’t need to control his weight that seriously.”

“Then you guessed right, I was indeed joking haha.”

…

Today’s agenda primarily involved the weigh-in registration for the various contenders, and concurrently recording the competition information. The official competition, however, wouldn’t start until tomorrow.

Even so, there were already a few rather excited contestants at the venue who began to “practice” with each other.

Catina frowned as she watched from the sidelines; watching videos was one thing, but witnessing people slapping each other in person was an entirely different matter.

“Smack! Smack!”

Although they weren’t using their full strength, the sounds, like fireworks exploding, still made the onlookers’ scalps tingle.

Catina looked at Li Ang’s face with a tinge of pity, fearing it might swell up like those of the others.

After returning to the hotel, Catina dutifully began her work for the day, which involved video editing and copywriting.

Her account was gradually moving beyond the realm of a minor internet celebrity.

The daily subscriptions were steadily rising, and she already had over fifty thousand followers.

The “Slapping Contest” was undeniably a hot topic, its visual impact alone more striking than most other competitions.

Moreover, with the backing of the UFC president and well-positioned publicity and endorsements, the event was generating quite a buzz.

Many major influencers’ fans were inciting their favorite personalities to join this competition.

Thus, as soon as Catina posted the video of Li Ang joining the competition online, the views began to soar exponentially.

After all, there were many who talked tough online, but few like Li Ang who actually joined upon saying they would.

“My goodness, I admit the author has considerable martial arts skill, but that doesn’t mean you have such strong resistance to getting hit, this is a very dangerous thing.”

“Look what I’ve found? My favorite cycling blogger is going to join a slapping contest? I can’t wait to see him with a face swollen like a pig’s head.”

“How many identities does the author have, anyway? A preserver of Chinese martial arts, cycling race champion, Titan Games weekly champion, and now he’s joining a slapping contest?”

And because of Li Ang’s Chinese descent, many of his account’s followers included fans from China who bypassed internet restrictions to watch.

So when he posted the video, it was quickly reposted within China.

Various unique and strange competitions from abroad always attracted many male viewers in China, but the enthusiasm would soar to yet another level if one of the competitors was of Chinese descent.

The first to get the news were still the martial arts bloggers at Pigeon Martial Edge, since he had been previously urged by his fans to join the slapping contest because of his Tongbei Quan videos where he hit various objects.

As a result, whenever such videos emerged, it was inevitable to see his handle mentioned in the comment section below.

This time was no exception.

In the past, he typically wouldn’t respond, partly because he couldn’t just travel abroad to compete, and partly because, although he was confident in his striking power, he was well aware that he’d never trained his ability to take a hit and certainly couldn’t withstand someone else’s slap.

He might not go down with one slap, but if he received one, he’d definitely hit the floor.

Many teased him, claiming he could compete as long as he struck first.

Hence, as soon as the news of Li Ang, also a practitioner of Tongbei Quan, joining the contest spread, he quickly started getting tagged by countless netizens.

Even he was surprised at how Li Ang dared to participate in this competition.

Although he knew as fellow online personalities that Li Ang had likely joined to ride the wave of this event’s popularity, Pigeon Martial Edge held genuine respect for his courage to do so.

He immediately called his apprentice and asked him to contact Li Ang overseas, to see if they could get authorization for his videos.