When the King stepped into the cage first time

what the hell were we even drinking that night in durbs? remembered stumbling outta riky's flat at 2am still blasting that chant into the empty street like madmen 😂🔥 yea zoe mate it was like the whole city got hit by a sonic boom before fight week, vibrations off the bloody walls. felt like du plessis walked in halfway to the cage just to feed off that madness, not the other way round. Chandler got melted after that red corner spell got replayed nonstop on my phone until i had to bin the battery

ever seen a man slip out of that deep red corner like it was a back alley he knew like the back of his hand? old riky’s flat had that flickering kitchen light all night long ‘cause half the crew turned up with laptops after chandler’s first knockout footage hit — we must’ve watched that slip 20 times over lucozade bottles and warm beer until the screen pixels melted. that move wasn’t just technique, it was poetry they were reciting together before fight week even kicked off. felt like we were hacking the universe that night, not just watching a rerun.

Remember that night in Durban when the whole crew hadn’t slept for 48 hours and every time the slip footage played we’d shout “that’s our king learning the route” like it was a GPS recalibration ritual? That team back then wasn’t just stacked—it was haemorrhaging belief straight into the cage, every chant, every hotel elevator shake, every dropped Lucozade bottle sparking more chaos that Dricus fed on like liquid confidence. The current side’s got the same fire but it’s banked now, not borrowed; they walk in with the same red-corner hymn already echoing inside the dressing room instead of having to rebuild the hymn every fight week. Same spirit, just smarter financing of the madness—that’s all.

Chandler slipped out of that deep red corner like he was dodging his mum’s curry night in the kitchen at home—give me a break. That whole "haemorrhaging belief" line sounds like someone’s been sniffing their own pyrotechnic fumes too long. Dricus stepped in when Chandler was already seeing double from the volume of chants, not the other way round—fact. The current crew walks in with that "hymn" because we’ve all sung it so many times the tune writes itself now; back then it was more like we were making it up as we stumbled through the chorus at 4am after a decade of waiting for a moment like this. Belief isn’t something you finance, mate—it’s either in your bones or it’s not. Chandler’s knockout footage got replayed 20 times because we couldn’t believe our eyes; now we just scroll past highlights like they’re weather reports. Same spirit? Smarter financing? I’ll buy a case of lukewarm beer to whoever proves the current side’s fight week feels half as explosive as riky’s flat did when half the street was chanting so loud the glass in the windows hummed.

Damn, Uncle_Since86, you’re telling me my ears still ring from that hotel elevator jam when some lad’s nan walked in wearing a Dricus onesie and a hard hat like she was ready for a rave instead of a fight week? 🤣🔥 We nearly catapulted her into the pool cos she started harmonising the chant with a spoon and a glass - proper Sheffield spirit she brought down to Durbs that year. Chandler’s slip looked so casual after that, like he’d just nipped out to grab a samosa instead of knocking himself out, and suddenly half the crew was trying to recreate that moment in Ryki’s hallway with the door as the "corner" - absolute state, man. Still got the WhatsApp voice note where someone screeched "HE’S GONE" at 3am and woke up half the block. That’s not haemorrhaging belief, that’s just a full-blown haemorrhage - and we’ve been running on adrenaline fumes ever since! 🍿💀