Latest news with #KarateCombat
The Star
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
Techie testosterone
WALKING into the crowded hotel conference room, Andrew Batey looked like any other tech guy attending ETHDenver, an annual cryptocurrency conference. A venture capital investor based in Florida, Batey wore a black sweatshirt emblazoned with the logos of more than a dozen crypto companies, with names like LunarCrush and bitSmiley. Batey, however, was at the conference not to network with fellow crypto enthusiasts but to fight one of them – live on YouTube. At the hotel, a short drive from the conference convention centre, he was preparing for his official weigh-in, the final step before a fight the next evening in an arena packed with crypto colleagues. Under the watchful eye of a representative from the Colorado Combative Sports Commission, Batey, 40, stripped down to his boxers. He weighed in at just under 88.5kg, on target for the fight. The bare-chested venture capitalist raised his biceps and flexed for the cameras. The nation's tech elite, not content with unfathomable wealth and rising political influence in Washington, have recently developed a new obsession – fighting. Across the United States, men like Batey are learning to punch, kick, knee, elbow and, in some cases, hammer an opponent over the head with their fists. The figurehead of the movement is Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire CEO of Meta, who has charted his impressive physical transformation from skinny computer nerd to martial arts fighter on Instagram, one of the apps he owns. The tech industry's newfound devotion to martial arts is one facet of a broader cultural shift that has upended US politics. Many of these tech founders-turned-fighters are chasing a testosterone-heavy ideal of masculinity that is ascendant on social media and embraced by President Donald Trump. An enthusiastic practitioner of Brazilian jujitsu, Zuckerberg, 40, lamented this year that corporate culture was getting 'neutered' and was devoid of 'masculine energy.' In 2023, Zuckerberg's fellow billionaire Elon Musk, a longtime corporate rival, challenged him to a televised cage match. (The fight never took place.) A çlout-forming exercise' Most of the tech world's aspiring fighters have a crucial thing in common: Before they started pursuing their extravagant new hobby, they made a lot of money. In 2018, Batey founded Beatdapp, a company that develops software to eliminate fraud in music streaming. He also runs a venture capital firm, Side Door Ventures, that invests in crypto startups. Two years ago, Batey's venture fund invested US$500,000 (RM2.1mil) in Karate Combat, a would-be competitor to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The league operates as a hybrid between an athletic competition and a tech startup. Rather than offering traditional shares, Karate Combat gave Batey's firm Karate tokens –a cryptocurrency that fans can wager on Karate Combat fights, which stream on YouTube as well as TV channels like ESPN Deportes. Last year, the company created a new competition for billionaire amateurs called the Influencer Fight Club. Karate Combat's fights have an extensive following on Crypto Twitter, and Influencer Fight Club has helped attract more of those super-online fans. Over the past 18 months, the competition has featured some big names in the crypto world, including Nic Carter, a venture investor. At a crypto conference in Nashville, Tennessee, last summer, Carter knocked out a tattooed crypto marketer in one round. On social media, he was hailed as 'kingly' and adopted the nickname 'Tungsten Daddy.' 'This is an amazing clout-forming exercise,' Carter said in a recent interview. 'Not to be cynical about it.' Batey attended an Influencer Fight Club event in Austin, Texas, last year and decided he wanted to fight, too. Once an amateur athlete who dabbled in boxing, he had gained a lot of weight as his career took off. He was about to turn 40 and needed to get into shape for health reasons. But he also wanted to have the sort of athletic experience usually reserved for serious fighters, who sometimes train their entire lives for the chance to compete on TV. 'This is my 40th birthday party – me fighting,' Batey explained. 'Maybe it's a midlife crisis.' For four months, Batey put his career on hold and spent $75,000 on a trainer, a nutritionist and a rotating cast of professional sparring partners. After the fight was scheduled for ETHDenver, a conference devoted to the cryptocurrency Ethereum, he booked a block of nearly 30 hotel rooms to accommodate his friends and supporters. At first Batey had trouble finding a suitable opponent. Then a solution emerged: Chauncey St. John, a crypto entrepreneur based in upstate New York. St John does not seem much like a fighter. 'I've got this Mister Rogers vibe to me,' he said recently. But he had endured his share of hardship in the crypto world. In 2021, he founded Angel Protocol, a startup that aimed to help charities raise money using crypto. Unfortunately, he steered his clients toward an investment platform tied to Luna, a digital currency whose price crashed overnight in 2022, erasing much of what the charities had raised. After the Luna crash, St John, 38, retreated from public view. He reimbursed the charities with money his firm had saved up and embraced Christianity, searching for meaning in the worst moment of his career. One day in January, St John glanced at a group chat that included other crypto enthusiasts. His eyes fell on a message from an industry colleague who goes by the nickname 'The Degen Boii': Karate Combat needed a fighter for ETHDenver. The invitation 'felt like testimony from God,' St John said. Nerds trying 'to man up' A few hours after the weigh-in, Batey drove to the Stockyards Event Center, a venue on the outskirts of Denver where Karate Combat had erected four sets of stands, overlooking a pit lined with mats. An entourage came along: two trainers, a couple of fighters from Batey's gym and a filmmaker shooting footage for a documentary. With 24 hours to go until the fight, it was time for the ceremonial face-off, an opportunity for trash talk. Batey drew close to St John, almost nose to nose. 'Are you going to kiss me?' St John asked. 'We'll find out,' Batey replied. When the theatrics concluded, St John walked down to the pit. Unlike Batey, he had not had much time to prepare; his entourage consisted of a single person, a trainer with no pro fighting experience. Chiheb Soumer, a former professional kick boxer, was watching him closely. A native of Hamburg, Germany, Soumer, 36, had once worked as an in-house trainer for Snap in Los Angeles, teaching tech employees how to box. He travelled to Denver as Batey's trainer. 'I love to see these nerds all of a sudden try to man up,' he said. In the ring on fight night On fight night at the Stockyards, the enemy combatants warmed up a few feet from each other as the arena slowly filled with spectators – men in crypto T-shirts and backward baseball caps, swigging beer and taking photos. At 6pm, a roar spread through the building, as St John and Batey slid into the pit. What followed more closely resembled a schoolyard scrap than a professional martial-arts bout. The choreographed moves that Batey had rehearsed were nowhere to be seen. Over and over, he threw punches and missed, lunging forward and then lurching back. St John swung his arms wildly, whirling in a circle, like a helicopter. Next to the pit, a panel of announcers offered live analysis for the YouTube audience. 'What they lack in technical, they make up for in the heart,' one commentator said. His partner offered a blunter assessment: 'It's hilarious.' By the end of the first round, Batey's nose was bleeding heavily. But soon he forced St John to the ground and straddled him, raining punches down onto his head. Within 10 seconds, the referee intervened: St John couldn't continue. It was over. Batey held his arms aloft and started to dance, thrusting his pelvis toward the crowd. 'I just want to thank my wife,' he told the cheering crowd. 'Thank you for supporting me, making my meals, putting the kids to bed.' Backstage, St John was smiling. 'I didn't embarrass myself,' he said. All the effort had been worth it. He would happily do it over again. That night, Batey went out to celebrate. He had showered, changed and cleaned up his face, except for a single streak of dried blood that was intact on the bridge of his nose. At the entrance to a party near Civic Center Park, Batey informed the bouncer that he had featured in 'a pro fight tonight, a fight on TV.' The bouncer didn't seem impressed. But Batey found a more appreciative audience on the dance floor, where his friends swarmed him, offering hugs and fist bumps. Soon a chant went up: 'Batey, Batey, Batey, Batey.' Away from the group, Batey confided that at the arena, not long after the fight, he had approached St. John to express his respect and gratitude – and to make clear that he was 'proud of him, as a human.' St John had fought hard, Batey said. Maybe someday they would be friends. 'He's a good guy,' Batey said. 'We're both just good dudes.' — 2025 The New York Times Company This article was first published in The New York Times.
The Star
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
‘A boy's idea of what it means to be a man'
The tech guys are fighting. Literally. — NYT WHEN Meta billionaire CEO Mark Zuckerberg was challenged by fellow billionaire Elon Musk to a televised cage match in 2023, his longtime corporate rival immediately suggested his ideal venue: the Roman Colosseum. The fight never took place but ancient ancient Rome is, in some ways, a useful reference point for this era of ultrarich braggadocio. The wealthiest Romans were fascinated with violent combat. The Emperor Commodus even joined in the gladiatorial contests, claiming he had fought as many as 1,000 times. By the early 20th century, fighting was still a popular pastime for the elites: An avid boxer in his Harvard years, Teddy Roosevelt regularly sparred at the White House. These days, the rise of mixed martial arts that both Zuckerberg and Musk swear to is part of a cultural revanchism that has thrived in the so-called manosphere, where hypermasculine online commentators complain that women have become too powerful in the workplace. In this corner of the internet, men are seeking to reclaim a kind of aggressive masculinity that came under scrutiny during the #MeToo era. It's the latest iteration of a phenomenon that feminist writer Susan Faludi described in her 1991 book Backlash about how men have historically reacted to advances in women's rights. In an interview last month, Faludi said the growing male obsession with fighting amounted to 'a boy's idea of what it means to be a man.' 'Living out this childhood fantasy of being pro athletes, that's just puerile,' she said. 'These guys need to discover yoga.' The urge to fight has recently spilled over from the tech billionaire class to the industry's trenches, where mere decamillionaires and millionaires now practice martial arts in increasing numbers. Zuckerberg's transformation offered a 'beacon of hope' for other executives, fellow tech bro Andrew Batey said. 'Dreamers can latch onto something like this and say, 'Maybe it's possible.'' Until lately, though, a run-of-the-mill tech founder hoping to flex his muscles on TV would have had limited options. Then a company called Karate Combat glimpsed a market opportunity. Karate Combat's primary business is professional fighting – mixed martial arts contests featuring seasoned athletes, some of whom also fight in UFC. (A representative for Karate Combat declined to reveal how much money the league generates.) Last year, the company created a new competition for amateurs and started offering it as the undercard at pro events, which are sometimes held at crypto conferences. The competition was called Influencer Fight Club, and its premise was simple: Put a couple of tech guys in the ring and see what happens.
Globe and Mail
26-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Bitget Delivers A Knockout Experience: VIP Access to Karate Combat's KC54 Dubai UFC Fight
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bitget, the leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, brought the heat to Token2049 with an exclusive ringside experience at Karate Combat KC54 in Dubai on May 2nd. Think high-octane strikes, VIP treatment, and a night so wild, even the blockchain felt the impact. This year, Bitget raised the stakes by offering a premium experience that put crypto enthusiasts right at the heart of the action. Bitget's esteemed VIPs witnessed world-class fighters trade blows while enjoying gourmet food and premium beverages in an exclusive VIP section reserved just for Bitget's key opinion leaders and special guests. With a crowd of 4,000-5,000 roaring fight fans, the energy in Dubai's premier venue was electric. Bitget COO Vugar Usi Zade perfectly captured the spirit of the event: "Crypto trading and combat sports demand the same qualities—quick reflexes, strategic thinking, and nerves of steel. We're thrilled to give our community this exclusive opportunity to experience world-class competition up close. Whether you're analyzing charts or analyzing fight techniques, this is where champions are made." Robert Bryan, CEO of Karate Combat, remarked, "KC54 marked a significant milestone in our journey, and having Bitget as a sponsor amplified our commitment to innovation in combat sports. Their support helped us deliver an unforgettable experience that blended tradition with cutting-edge technology. Asim Zaidi, President of Karate Combat, also added, "Partnering with Bitget for KC54 was a game-changer. Their involvement not only elevated the event's profile but also underscored the synergy between martial arts and the evolving digital landscape." The event marked another strategic partnership for Bitget in the combat sports world, following their successful collaborations with professional combat athletes such as Wrestling World Champion, Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu, and Boxing Gold Medalist Samet Gümüş (Boxing). By creating these exclusive live experiences, Bitget continues to build meaningful connections between the crypto community and high-profile sporting events. Jyotsna Hirdyani, Bitget's South Asia head, who orchestrated the event, shared insights. "This is the future. From blockchain to sports, crypto is changing the game forever. This is what happens when sports & entertainment meet blockchain technology. It's a cultural shift where you will see more & more cross-plays of sports x crypto, the ultimate cross-over." This partnership underscores Bitget's commitment to delivering unique, high-value experiences to its community. Just as in trading, timing is everything, and May 2nd in Dubai was when crypto met combat in what turned out to be an unforgettable showdown. Bitget's focus remains on creating tangible value for the crypto community beyond digital interfaces. About Bitget Established in 2018, Bitget is the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company. Serving over 100 million users in 150+ countries and regions, the Bitget exchange is committed to helping users trade smarter with its pioneering copy trading feature and other trading solutions, while offering real-time access to Bitcoin price, Ethereum price, and other cryptocurrency prices. Formerly known as BitKeep, Bitget Wallet is a world-class multi-chain crypto wallet that offers an array of comprehensive Web3 solutions and features including wallet functionality, token swap, NFT Marketplace, DApp browser, and more. Bitget is at the forefront of driving crypto adoption through strategic partnerships, such as its role as the Official Crypto Partner of the World's Top Football League, LALIGA, in EASTERN, SEA and LATAM markets, as well as a global partner of Turkish National athletes Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu (Wrestling world champion), Samet Gümüş (Boxing gold medalist) and İlkin Aydın (Volleyball national team), to inspire the global community to embrace the future of cryptocurrency. For media inquiries, please contact: media@ Risk Warning: Digital asset prices are subject to fluctuation and may experience significant volatility. Investors are advised to only allocate funds they can afford to lose. The value of any investment may be impacted, and there is a possibility that financial objectives may not be met, nor the principal investment recovered. Independent financial advice should always be sought, and personal financial experience and standing carefully considered. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Bitget accepts no liability for any potential losses incurred. Nothing contained herein should be construed as financial advice. For further information, please refer to our Terms of Use. About Karate Karate Combat is the world's premier full-contact karate league, renowned for its innovative approach to combat sports entertainment. Known for its distinctive, fast-paced fighting style - essentially MMA without ground fighting, Karate Combat delivers high-energy bouts, with nearly half ending in knockouts. With over 7 million followers, hundreds of millions of views monthly, and over 100,000 active app users, Karate Combat is at the forefront of blending sports, technology community-driven experiences. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitget Delivers A Knockout Experience: VIP Access to Karate Combat's KC54 Dubai UFC Fight
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bitget, the leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, brought the heat to Token2049 with an exclusive ringside experience at Karate Combat KC54 in Dubai on May 2nd. Think high-octane strikes, VIP treatment, and a night so wild, even the blockchain felt the impact. This year, Bitget raised the stakes by offering a premium experience that put crypto enthusiasts right at the heart of the action. Bitget's esteemed VIPs witnessed world-class fighters trade blows while enjoying gourmet food and premium beverages in an exclusive VIP section reserved just for Bitget's key opinion leaders and special guests. With a crowd of 4,000-5,000 roaring fight fans, the energy in Dubai's premier venue was electric. Bitget COO Vugar Usi Zade perfectly captured the spirit of the event: "Crypto trading and combat sports demand the same qualities—quick reflexes, strategic thinking, and nerves of steel. We're thrilled to give our community this exclusive opportunity to experience world-class competition up close. Whether you're analyzing charts or analyzing fight techniques, this is where champions are made." Robert Bryan, CEO of Karate Combat, remarked, "KC54 marked a significant milestone in our journey, and having Bitget as a sponsor amplified our commitment to innovation in combat sports. Their support helped us deliver an unforgettable experience that blended tradition with cutting-edge technology. Asim Zaidi, President of Karate Combat, also added, "Partnering with Bitget for KC54 was a game-changer. Their involvement not only elevated the event's profile but also underscored the synergy between martial arts and the evolving digital landscape." The event marked another strategic partnership for Bitget in the combat sports world, following their successful collaborations with professional combat athletes such as Wrestling World Champion, Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu, and Boxing Gold Medalist Samet Gümüş (Boxing). By creating these exclusive live experiences, Bitget continues to build meaningful connections between the crypto community and high-profile sporting events. Jyotsna Hirdyani, Bitget's South Asia head, who orchestrated the event, shared insights. "This is the future. From blockchain to sports, crypto is changing the game forever. This is what happens when sports & entertainment meet blockchain technology. It's a cultural shift where you will see more & more cross-plays of sports x crypto, the ultimate cross-over." This partnership underscores Bitget's commitment to delivering unique, high-value experiences to its community. Just as in trading, timing is everything, and May 2nd in Dubai was when crypto met combat in what turned out to be an unforgettable showdown. Bitget's focus remains on creating tangible value for the crypto community beyond digital interfaces. About Bitget Established in 2018, Bitget is the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company. Serving over 100 million users in 150+ countries and regions, the Bitget exchange is committed to helping users trade smarter with its pioneering copy trading feature and other trading solutions, while offering real-time access to Bitcoin price, Ethereum price, and other cryptocurrency prices. Formerly known as BitKeep, Bitget Wallet is a world-class multi-chain crypto wallet that offers an array of comprehensive Web3 solutions and features including wallet functionality, token swap, NFT Marketplace, DApp browser, and more. Bitget is at the forefront of driving crypto adoption through strategic partnerships, such as its role as the Official Crypto Partner of the World's Top Football League, LALIGA, in EASTERN, SEA and LATAM markets, as well as a global partner of Turkish National athletes Buse Tosun Çavuşoğlu (Wrestling world champion), Samet Gümüş (Boxing gold medalist) and İlkin Aydın (Volleyball national team), to inspire the global community to embrace the future of cryptocurrency. For more information, visit: Website | Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Discord | Bitget Wallet For media inquiries, please contact: media@ Digital asset prices are subject to fluctuation and may experience significant volatility. Investors are advised to only allocate funds they can afford to lose. The value of any investment may be impacted, and there is a possibility that financial objectives may not be met, nor the principal investment recovered. Independent financial advice should always be sought, and personal financial experience and standing carefully considered. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Bitget accepts no liability for any potential losses incurred. Nothing contained herein should be construed as financial advice. For further information, please refer to our Terms of Use. About Karate Karate Combat is the world's premier full-contact karate league, renowned for its innovative approach to combat sports entertainment. Known for its distinctive, fast-paced fighting style - essentially MMA without ground fighting, Karate Combat delivers high-energy bouts, with nearly half ending in knockouts. With over 7 million followers, hundreds of millions of views monthly, and over 100,000 active app users, Karate Combat is at the forefront of blending sports, technology community-driven experiences. Photos accompanying this announcement are available at in to access your portfolio
Indian Express
12-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
The tech guys are fighting. Literally.
Written by David Yaffe-Bellany Walking into the crowded hotel conference room, Andrew Batey looked like any other tech guy attending ETHDenver, an annual cryptocurrency conference. A venture capital investor based in Florida, Batey wore a black sweatshirt emblazoned with the logos of more than a dozen crypto companies, with names like LunarCrush and bitSmiley. Batey, however, was at the conference not to network with fellow crypto enthusiasts but to fight one of them — live on YouTube. At the hotel, a short drive from the conference convention center, he was preparing for his official weigh-in, the final step before a fight the next evening in an arena packed with crypto colleagues. Under the watchful eye of a representative from the Colorado Combative Sports Commission, Batey, 40, stripped down to his boxers. He weighed in at just under 195 pounds, on target for the fight. The bare-chested venture capitalist raised his biceps and flexed for the cameras. The nation's tech elite, not content with unfathomable wealth and rising political influence in Washington, have recently developed a new obsession — fighting. Across the United States, men like Batey are learning to punch, kick, knee, elbow and, in some cases, hammer an opponent over the head with their fists. The figurehead of the movement is Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire CEO of Meta, who has charted his impressive physical transformation from skinny computer nerd to martial arts fighter on Instagram, one of the apps he owns. The tech industry's newfound devotion to martial arts is one facet of a broader cultural shift that has upended U.S. politics. Many of these tech founders-turned-fighters are chasing a testosterone-heavy ideal of masculinity that is ascendant on social media and embraced by President Donald Trump. An enthusiastic practitioner of Brazilian jujitsu, Zuckerberg, 40, lamented this year that corporate culture was getting 'neutered' and was devoid of 'masculine energy.' In 2023, Zuckerberg's fellow billionaire Elon Musk, a longtime corporate rival, challenged him to a televised cage match. (The fight never took place.) Most of the tech world's aspiring fighters have a crucial thing in common: Before they started pursuing their extravagant new hobby, they made a lot of money. In 2018, Batey founded Beatdapp, a company that develops software to eliminate fraud in music streaming. He also runs a venture capital firm, Side Door Ventures, that invests in crypto startups. Two years ago, Batey's venture fund invested $500,000 in Karate Combat, a would-be competitor to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The league operates as a hybrid between an athletic competition and a tech startup. Rather than offering traditional shares, Karate Combat gave Batey's firm Karate tokens — a cryptocurrency that fans can wager on Karate Combat fights, which stream on YouTube as well as TV channels like ESPN Deportes. Karate Combat's primary business is professional fighting — mixed martial arts contests featuring seasoned athletes, some of whom also fight in UFC. (A representative for Karate Combat declined to reveal how much money the league generates.) Last year, the company created a new competition for amateurs and started offering it as the undercard at pro events, which are sometimes held at crypto conferences. The competition was called Influencer Fight Club, and its premise was simple: Put a couple of tech guys in the ring and see what happens. Karate Combat's fights have an extensive following on Crypto Twitter, and Influencer Fight Club has helped attract more of those super-online fans. Over the past 18 months, the competition has featured some big names in the crypto world, including Nic Carter, a venture investor. At a crypto conference in Nashville, Tennessee, last summer, Carter knocked out a tattooed crypto marketer in one round. On social media, he was hailed as 'kingly' and adopted the nickname 'Tungsten Daddy.' 'This is an amazing clout-forming exercise,' Carter said in a recent interview. 'Not to be cynical about it.' Batey attended an Influencer Fight Club event in Austin, Texas, last year and decided he wanted to fight, too. Once an amateur athlete who dabbled in boxing, he had gained a lot of weight as his career took off. He was about to turn 40 and needed to get into shape for health reasons. But he also wanted to have the sort of athletic experience usually reserved for serious fighters, who sometimes train their entire lives for the chance to compete on TV. 'This is my 40th birthday party — me fighting,' Batey explained. 'Maybe it's a midlife crisis.' For four months, Batey put his career on hold and spent $75,000 on a trainer, a nutritionist and a rotating cast of professional sparring partners. After the fight was scheduled for ETHDenver, a conference devoted to the cryptocurrency Ethereum, he booked a block of nearly 30 hotel rooms to accommodate his friends and supporters. At first Batey had trouble finding a suitable opponent. Then a solution emerged: Chauncey St. John, a crypto entrepreneur based in upstate New York. St. John does not seem much like a fighter. 'I've got this Mister Rogers vibe to me,' he said recently. But he had endured his share of hardship in the crypto world. In 2021, he founded Angel Protocol, a startup that aimed to help charities raise money using crypto. Unfortunately, he steered his clients toward an investment platform tied to Luna, a digital currency whose price crashed overnight in 2022, erasing much of what the charities had raised. After the Luna crash, St. John, 38, retreated from public view. He reimbursed the charities with money his firm had saved up and embraced Christianity, searching for meaning in the worst moment of his career. One day in January, St. John glanced at a group chat that included other crypto enthusiasts. His eyes fell on a message from an industry colleague who goes by the nickname 'The Degen Boii': Karate Combat needed a fighter for ETHDenver. The invitation 'felt like testimony from God,' St. John said. A few hours after the weigh-in, Batey drove to the Stockyards Event Center, a venue on the outskirts of Denver where Karate Combat had erected four sets of stands, overlooking a pit lined with mats. An entourage came along: two trainers, a couple of fighters from Batey's gym and a filmmaker shooting footage for a documentary. With 24 hours to go until the fight, it was time for the ceremonial face-off, an opportunity for trash talk. Batey drew close to St. John, almost nose to nose. 'Are you gonna kiss me?' St. John asked. 'We'll find out,' Batey replied. When the theatrics concluded, St. John walked down to the pit. Unlike Batey, he had not had much time to prepare; his entourage consisted of a single person, a trainer with no pro fighting experience. Chiheb Soumer, a former professional kick boxer, was watching him closely. A native of Hamburg, Germany, Soumer, 36, had once worked as an in-house trainer for Snap in Los Angeles, teaching tech employees how to box. He traveled to Denver as Batey's trainer. 'I love to see these nerds all of a sudden try to man up,' he said. On fight night at the Stockyards, the enemy combatants warmed up a few feet from each other as the arena slowly filled with spectators — men in crypto T-shirts and backward baseball caps, swigging beer and taking photos. At 6 p.m., a roar spread through the building, as St. John and Batey slid into the pit. What followed more closely resembled a schoolyard scrap than a professional martial-arts bout. The choreographed moves that Batey had rehearsed were nowhere to be seen. Over and over, he threw punches and missed, lunging forward and then lurching back. St. John swung his arms wildly, whirling in a circle, like a helicopter. Next to the pit, a panel of announcers offered live analysis for the YouTube audience. 'What they lack in technical, they make up for in the heart,' one commentator said. His partner offered a blunter assessment: 'It's hilarious.' By the end of the first round, Batey's nose was bleeding heavily. But soon he forced St. John to the ground and straddled him, raining punches down onto his head. Within 10 seconds, the referee intervened: St. John couldn't continue. It was over. Batey held his arms aloft and started to dance, thrusting his pelvis toward the crowd. 'I just want to thank my wife,' he told the cheering crowd. 'Thank you for supporting me, making my meals, putting the kids to bed.' Backstage, St. John was smiling. 'I didn't embarrass myself,' he said. All the effort had been worth it. He would happily do it over again. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
