The term "cat fight" often had a few meanings. One was in reference to two cats fighting and often requiring the owner or someone to then separate the two animals. The other, and the one that often attracted the most attention, was two women either arguing or literally fighting over something. Much of what was going into the Year of the Tiger competition played a bit more into the first definition, though this time focusing on the tiger rather than house cats. Now, typically tigers in the wild didn't fight each other all that much. As solitary animals without the support of others, constant fighting would risk injury and injury would then hamper its ability to hunt, something that wouldn't do well for an animal that typically hunted large game, which could kill a healthy tiger if the tiger lost the element of surprise. But at times, tigers did fight, particularly during the mating season, and these fights when they occurred were fierce.
At the same time, because the Asiatic Lion's numbers in eastern Asia were lower, this often meant that in India, China, Korea, and southeast Asia, the tiger often took on the role of the regal and "king of beasts" role that western Asian, African, and European cultures often gave the Lion. And for the Year of the Tiger competition, that aspect was playing a role in the competition. The Tiger Animalians, and those that were given honorary status for Heracles and Megara as Ligers being "half-tiger" and Diego and Patty because of the common use of "Saber-Toothed Tiger" in reference to any of the Smilodon species, would be expected to battle for the right to rule and show their strength in that way. This, however, brought some changes that were different and brought in some new rules, which then brought in those from the UFC to help manage things.
Thus, on the first night, Tuxing, Liao and the other competing tigress stood in a line on one edge of the main mat at the Claw Coliseum and while Lenard Bearstone, Steve, and the other competing tigers were on the other side. Dominating the center spots were those that were effectively running this portion of the competition. The largest figure was Brett Horne, operating as the manager and organizer for the UFC-A under Marcus Pennington's direction. With him were Mario and Courtney Domini. The two Pachycephalosaurus Dinotopians were present to help with training regimens as well as explaining the rules regarding some of the other combat sports that would also come into play. The last was smaller than the two Dinotopians and even smaller than the Tiger Animalians, but the black scales and rectangular head betrayed him as the Komodo Dragon Animalian that the UFC-A had as their head medical officer for their competitions, Dr. Joshua Komorowski. Though it was Brett Horne that explained the rules.
"Okay," Brett Horne spoke clearly and authoritatively as he stood in a central point on the matt where he could observe the tigresses on one side and the tigers on the other, "this section of the contest will be a bit different from the earlier sections... and to a degree will be different from the past competitions, which serves as part of the representation of the tiger's perceived strengths and roles in nature. One that can be seen as more... combative. And as such, it will operate under a lot of UFC-A rules and guidelines to ensure that ALL of you are able to compete and that the competition does not prove fatal. As such there will be several key points that will be non-negotiable that will go across the board."
Tuxing nodded from her spot and expected this. While Animalians held base forms that would have more in common with Humans in terms of their base frame, there were going to be things that were unique to the mundane animal before it was uplifted or the features the Human would gain when converting to an Animalian. For Tiger and all Feline Animalians this meant claws and sharp teeth, and when scaled up to animals the size of tigers, that could well mean serious injury. The UFC-A had a lot of rules against biting, clawing, or horned Animalians using those as weapons in matches, these were all there to prevent serious and life-threatening injuries, and the instructors she'd had that had been teaching her the tiger style of Kung Fu would have similar rules when it came to applying those lessons, particularly when it came to sparing matches and other demonstrations.
"This will be fairly obvious," Brett spoke, "no clawing and no biting. Specialized gloves and muzzles will be provided assure that and will go for all match ups and will vary depending on the nature of the matchup. Matches in boxing will have actual boxing gloves, wrestling or some other form of martial arts matchup will have either padded gloves with individual fingers that will run over individual fingers to specialized caps over the claws."
"All understandable," Diego spoke up while raising his hand and noting Brett turning to him, "but what about mine and Patty's sabers? Most of the muzzles that have been put together generally fit a tooth structure that is inside the lips. Our sabers protrude from the lip and are actually rather brittle in "side to side" motion. In this, any blow from the side could break the teeth."
"We've had some discussions with the company that has manufactured the standard muzzles used," Brett answered, "and specialized models have been produced that should, and are based on the dimensions of Smilodon already in the fossil record. They will fit yours and Patty's mouth and will provide a covering for them. Though, you will have to keep in mind that because of their length... and the fact the muzzle's primary purpose is to make sure there is no biting, that doesn't mean that you could end up with a broken tooth as a result of the blow. And that should be understood with regard to the registration forms signed. You and Patty could sit out this section, but as with the rules, you wouldn't gain any points for the entire tournament."
Brett then gestured up to the electronic scoreboard that was up above them. The scoreboard was there to show the scores in UFC-A matches, basketball games for the IAC during those years. For now, it was being used to show the scores and standings for all the Year of the Tiger competition members. Tuxing looked up to see those standings and could see how they were posted with the competing tigresses on the left side of the giant screen and the competing tigers on the right side of the screen. The listings also gave some indication who the competitors were and the points they'd accumulated just far. Looking down the list for the females it started with Liao in first with Megara close behind. Tuxing was presently third, but close enough that she figured the coming rounds would be closer to her strengths and thus would give her a good chance of getting into the lead. A little bit further behind her was Patty, the Smilodon Animalian female, and then Shelly, a Siberian Tigress Animalian. Then came Ava, the White Tigress Animalian, before bringing up the rear were a few more Tigress Animalians, which were those that Tuxing hadn't heard of and assumed were either recent converts for the contest or became Tiger Animalians and had been more "secretive" from the rest of Animalia and thus hadn't socialized as much.
After looking over the standings for the females, Tuxing then looked over to the standings for the males. Heracles had a decent lead there and given his size some of that made good deal of sense. However, after the male Liger Animalian, the spacing between the competitors was narrow and it was only a space of one or two points between second and third place. Even the difference between second and fifth place wasn't all that great, though Tuxing supposed that the males really didn't have that many that would have had some of the combative advantages that she and Liao had with the females. Some of the gossip gave a hint that Shiva might have been a real contender, but when his cubs were born, he withdrew to remain close to his wife and new children. About the only male competitor that Tuxing felt was best placed for that was the present second place male in Diego, which made the male side interesting in that the first place was presently occupied by an uplifted Liger and second place was filled by a Smilodon Animalian, who'd been a stuntman/daredevil before he became an Animalian. Close behind Diego, was Lenard Bearstone, a couple of other male Tiger Animalians that Tuxing didn't know of. In sixth place was the male White Tiger Animalian, Steve, and then Wayne in seventh place. Then came the rest, whom Tuxing didn't know of. But because of how close the males were to each other in points, Tuxing figured that even those in last place might not need too much to climb into the lead.
"And this will be a tournament and single elimination," Brett continued, "the matchups will flow like what you would see in the NCAA bracket with the highest score facing the one with the lowest score. The loser in any given match will gain one point for that match while the winner will gain two points in each match that they win. Unlike the NCAA tournament, we will add the points and reset the standings for the sake of the tournament until things come down to the last two competitors."
Tuxing glanced over to Liao as Brett continued to go over the specific rules, much of which were things that they were at least loosely aware of. These things had been in the papers and scheduling for the tournament, but because this tournament was ultimately put on Animalia's web page and major Animalian sporting events often got at least some local sports coverage, that would mean that the viewing audience, which knew the contest was ongoing but didn't know the full rules to it would need some explanation. In this, Brett Horne's work gave those viewing the contest some understanding of the rules.
"Now, for the sake of the rules, the lower seeded contestant in each round will get the right to choose which combat sport will be used for that round," Brett continued as he looked to the competitors on all sides, "thus if someone picks boxing as the sport, both combatants will be expected to follow boxing's rules. MMA could be more open in allowing combatants to use the skills they're most familiar with... though, it must also be noted that NO weapons are to be in any round. Though there will also be concerns on injury... and it should be noted that in any combat sport, injury is possible."
He looked over the group and no one backed down, letting him continue.
"After each match, Dr. Komorowski will look over each combatant and assess their status and we will go from there," Brett continued, "no injuries will allow for the next match to be scheduled in two days' time. Minor injuries will mean the next round will be pushed back a week to give injury time to heal and reassess. Should the injury not heal or should Dr. Komorowski assess that the injury is too great to continue on, the injured participant will have to forfeit the next round for medical reasons. If it's come after a win, they will still get the full points for the round that they won and any rounds prior to that. If the injury shows signs of healing but this hasn't completed after one week, Dr. Komorowski and his team will perform another examination and then revaluate on what is needed and potentially reschedule again... or provide some discussion with those involved. If the contestant feels they could go on and wants to go on, regardless of injury, they can do so... but that would then mean that the following match will be closely watched by Dr. Komorowski."
It was at this point that Joshua came forward, "and in these sections I will reserve the right to end the match if I feel that the earlier injury begins to negatively affect the following match. I can understand wanting to win and prove yourselves, but the last thing any of you should want would be to end up with an injury that takes you out for the rest of year. This is to be for sport and to a degree for fun. Not war, and your health is more important than a trophy. And this sort of progress will go through everything for the tournament... and to a degree with the race up the mountain after this."
"And we will do our best to see to it that the schedule for the contest will be balanced with all that," Brett spoke, "someone injured in the first round could be fully recovered. And given the points... in pure theory if one builds up enough of a lead, one who is injured in the last round may have enough points to not have to worry about the mountain race. So, while athletic excellence may push you all to try hard, but it shouldn't come at the expense of your health, and we will also still have to abide by some element of time that the calendar will allow for."