Morpheus Unbound  |  Shadowrun

Ultimate Fighting in the Shadowrun Universe

Ultimate Fighting continues to exist as the only sanctioned no holds barred "sport" in the CAS, UCAS and many other countries around the world.  A world-wide federation of fighters has emerged and the sport means big money for those competitors tough enough to handle it.  Competition is still one-on-one or sometimes in UF2, two-on-one.  

Note:  In Shadowbeat Paul Hume wrote about the combat sport called Freestyle.  Freestyle and Ultimate Fighting are sufficiently similar that these rules could be considered a superset and the name simply changed back to Freestyle.  If you don't have Shadowbeat (it was published in 1992 - for SR1), then ignore this comment or even better - go out and buy it!

By the 2060's, of course, things have changed quite a bit.  There are now four divisions of competitors:

• UFU (Unaugmented)  This is the "original" division, and it has become dominated by orks and trolls.  Unaugmented means just that:  no magic, no cyberware, no bioware.  Some people feel that datajacks should be permitted (q.v. college Track and Field), but most competitors don't mind as they are too busy training to pursue such jobs.  Performance drugs are always a problem, and enforcement varies by event location.  
• UFA (Augmented)  Any bioware, cyberware or physical adept powers are permitted.  Promoters do (usually) try to balance the fights for a good show.
• UFL (Lightweight, or derisively "Lite") Considered the "amateurs" or "juniors" this division doesn't get as much press or attention.  Mostly it provides a division for those not ready to, or unwilling to, try to take on orks and trolls.
• UF2 (Unlimited)  This is the "anything goes" division where literally anything is allowed.  Ghouls, vampires and even lycanthropes have been known to compete against mages and near-psychotic cybertrolls.  Promoters are still trying to convince a dragon to compete.

Fights are won when one contender surrenders or can no longer fight (unconscious, crippled, dead).  Rarely, two contestants can agree to swipe ideas from professional wrestling and different conditions will be set.  All bouts have a time limit of ten minutes.

Except for UF2, maiming and killing are strongly discouraged, although there are no official rules against it and it happens several times per year.  It is an established fact that "repeat offenders" who develop a track record of maiming or killing opponents will suffer a career-ending injury (or death) in a match with a "house-keeper".  The "house-keepers" are the best, brightest and most-honorable among the Ultimate Fighters.  Officially, they exist only in myth and rumor - no one seriously admits to being one - but everyone knows they exist.  They operate as the internal moderating force to prevent unnecessary bloodshed and violence from ruining the sport.  UF2 is the exception:  people and critters die or get maimed in almost every match.

Each major city can host one tournament every three months.  In large countries like the UCAS or CAS, this means a dedicated fighter can chose from several tournaments each month, if she is willing to travel.  Any city large enough to host a tournament will usually also have a training center where any fighter can stop in find a "practice" fight.

A ranking system has evolved, mostly to reduce the fatality rate among UFA amatuers.  In concept, fighters are only sanctioned to compete against other fighters of the same rank.  In practice, there is a lot of overlap, especially when cocky lower ranking fighters challenge higher ranking fighters.  This ranking system applies to UFL, UFU and UFA tournament participants.

Each division has a current UCAS "champion" with the best Win:Loss ratio.  

• The UFL champion is a human named Brace Marsden.  Brace lives in New York City and was training in gymnastics and Tae Kwon Do almost since birth.
• The UFU champion is a hobgoblin named Ruth Viper.  Ruth and her cousin Soak emigrated from the Islam section of Detroit.  She was a top ranked boxer before her claims that she was being discriminated against annoyed the wrong people and she was framed for BTL possession and murder.  The murder charge didn't stick, but she spent two years in prison.  Now out on parole, she does physical labor and competes in the UFU.
• The UFA champion is Ruth's cousin Soak.  Soak is also a hobgoblin.  He picked up most of his modifications improperly, but since joining the UFA he has been picked up by a management agency and they take good care of him as long as he continues to perform.
• The UF2 champion was a troll combat mage named Arthur Dent, but he died after winning his last fight.

Buy Shadowbeat from Amazon.com.  (Although Amazon.com offers them now, this is not a revenue generating link for me.)