Let’s push the narrative button and talk about some of the possible outcomes and how it could affect the future of the contestants that left in the tournament.
#1 Rum Nitty is on the verge of starting another Champion of The Year Run.
Look, I know it’s low hanging fruit to have a premature discussion regarding the Champion Of The Year (COTY) race. We aren’t even 6 months into the year yet and the rankings for this award is extremely volatile. Any rankings you have, can be completely altered within a few weeks. However, Rum Nitty’s schedule is something to keep an eye out for. If he advances past swamp in the quarter finals, he will have 3 battles in 3 consecutive weeks. He is scheduled to battle Young Gattas on Remy Ma’s league Chrome 23, the following week on June 11th and he will be battling again on June 18th in the semi finals of UM5.
3 battles in 18 days is a tough assignment for anyone. Not to mention he battled Danny Myers on May 14th, only to enter a tournament with 5 days prep on May 21th. A tournament which he initially decline to be a part of. That will be total of 5 battles in a span of 6 weeks. One of the battles being an intergender match on a major card. 1 main event battle that is critically acclaimed to be one of the best showings so far this year and potentially 2 more judge wins to add on to his tournament run with the chance to compete at NOME for $100,000. For the second year in a row!
We may be looking too deeply into the crystal ball to predict the future. But if the cards all fall into place, Rum Nitty’s name would have to be in consideration for Champion Of The Year.
#2 Who will make the most adjustments in their rematch ?
The most interesting dynamic of this rematch is the fact that Tru Foe & Sheed Happens battled in the quarter finals of UM4 and will meet again in the quarter finals this go around. This is almost like seeing a playoff rematch between teams in the NBA or NFL. We have seen a flurry of rematches over the last few years on URL, especially in the tournament settings where you have no control of your future opponents. Within the 5 Ultimate Madness tournaments, there has been 7 rematches.
-Rum Nitty vs Drugz
-Rum Nitty vs Cortez
-Rum Nitty vs Geechi
-NXT vs Real Name Brandon
-O Red vs JC
-Sheed Happens vs Nunn Nunn
-Tru Foe vs Sheed Happens
Tru Foe got the best of Sheed Happens in their first encounter and it will be a chess match to see how the two of them will approach each other. Tru Foe seems to have found the perfect pacing to his set ups and punchlines. He has drastically improved his ability to land haymakers. His ceiling was on full display In his career high performance in the first round against Geechi Gotti. Tru Foe has the skills to rise to the occasion, he has discovered ways to translate his material to a crowd, while also staying completely direct towards his opponent. He gets into character of his creativity when expressing his performance based bars . Most importantly, he shows a relentlessness in his energy and is able to elevate round by round. Tru Foe writing uphill against Geechi was rewarded by winning the fan vote. Tru was able to see from the Nunn Nunn performance that name flips won’t be effective against Sheed. We can also expect to hear a lot more anime bars this time around.
As for Sheed, he is fighting a bit of an uphill battle due to the fact the culture feels his victory over a Nunn Nunn was a “robbery” (Big air quotes for this one)
He could possibly walk into a scenario where is he already losing the fan vote. None the less, Sheed has also made a lot of improvements to his style. He proved against Nunn Nunn he can translate well on a stage. His performance complimented with his stellar writing abilities gives him a chance to have his energy, animation and content all register with the crowd. He needs to work on his crowd control a little bit more and find a better presentation for his choice of angles. In Sheed’s 3rd round against Nunn Nunn, he had an “Underdog” angle in which he tried to get the crowd to participate and yell out UNDERDOGGG with him. However, it fell short of the engagement he was desiring. I appreciate the attempt, but he will have to go back to the drawing board if he wants to execute that method of attack.
#3 Who has progressed more since Ultimate Madness 1?
Without any doubt the Ultimate Madness 1 (UM1) class was a special pool of talent and one of the most unique classes the league has ever seen. Real Sikh being eliminated in the first round of the tournament against Jey The Nitewing was such a letdown, for the fact that both of those names were projected to make a deep run in the tournament. The only way Real Sikh and Fonz could’ve collided in UM1, is if Real Sikh would’ve made it to the finals.
Fonz being the first-ever Ultimate Madness Champion looks to repeat his title and will have to do so by standing in front of his classmate. While Real Sikh is to ready show the world he is capable of winning the first tournament. Both of these emcees have some of the best individual battles in regards to Ultimate Madness. Battles like Fonz vs Eazy and Real Sikh vs Kid Chaos (One-off) are still to date, some of the best battles in the entirety of the Ultimate Madness seasons. This match has expectations to be amongst one of the best battles in this tournament.
Real Sikh had an interview on Breakfast With The Champ, where he stated “Anytime I go against anyone from my class, it’s always going to be crazy.”
Let’s take a look at some of the milestones Fonz & Real Sikh have been able to achieve since UM1
Accolades post UM1 for Fonz
-3x URL Headliners. (Born Legacy 9, Initiation 2 & Kings vs Queens Day 3)
-Ultimate Madness Champion. (2020)
-1x Top 20 COTY. (2020)
-Ranked #17 in wins on the URLTV App. (4-3 Record since UM1)
-2021 BOTY Contender. (2on2 vs K Shine/Lu Castro)
-2x Champion Covers.
-2x NOME Appearances.
-Battled at Chris Brown’s house.
-1x ALL-URL 2nd Round 2021. (2nd vs Lu Castro)
-3x Caffeine Appearances.
Accolades post UM1 for Real Sikh:
-1x URL headliner. (Super Fight 2)
-2x Top 20 COTY. (2020 | 2021)
-Ranked #39 in wins on the URLTV App. (4-4 Record since UM1)
-2021 BOTY Contender. (vs Mike P)
-2x Champion covers.
-Drake Card Appearance.
-1x NOME Appearance.
-1x Smack Volume Appearance.
-1x ALL-URL 3rd round 2020. (3rd vs Chilla Jones)
-8x Caffeine Appearances
The growth, development, and milestones both of these emcees have hit since their rookie year in the league have been nothing short of outstanding. Real Sikh may have the edge on Fonz in accolades, resume, experience, and caffeine appearances. The last time we saw two battlers from the UM1 class battle after the tournament was Jey The Nitewing vs Kid Chaos.
Real Sikh had a very polished debut into UM5 against Stumbles, with a performance that showed major adjustments to his style on a stage. Fonz debut into UM5 vs Pristavia had some turbulence in it. Much credit to Fonz for taking risk in his performance and executing a prop, but Real Sikh showed to be the better battler so far into the tournament. Make no mistake, both of them will be at 100% against each other.
#4 JC's future is aligning for some high profile battles.
When you look at the battlers that are still remaining on JC’s side of the bracket, (Tru Foe, Sheed Happens & Head Ice) it’s safe to say that none of them have been consistently battling at a high level like him. With JC’s recent victory over O-Red, he is now ranked #2 in wins on the URLTV App.
JC’s last registered loss was against Loso and since then, JC is now on a 12-battle win streak on the app. Which ties Rum Nitty for the longest winning streak in the league. (12)
It may be a bit dismissive to just pencil JC into the finals, despite the fact he would be highly projected to advance past any of the remaining competitors. But for the sake of the narrative, let’s push JC forward to the finals. JC may be a heavy favorite against Head Ice and would also be a heavy favorite against the winner of Tru Foe/Sheed Happens, but make no mistake there is a possibility he may have to stand across a Rum Nitty rematch in the finals, hypothetically speaking.
A final appearance may be the ceiling for many names left in the tournament and making it that far would be a win within itself, but JC isn’t in the business for moral victories. Rum Nitty is a tall task for anyone and the last time they battled, JC did get the best of him on Summer Madness 6. JC would have a very difficult assignment trying to conquer a Rum Nitty that is seeking redemption if indeed that was the match-up that presented itself in the finals.
Regardless of the opponent that will be waiting for JC in the finals. If JC were to win the tournament, it would put him in the crane’s operator seat in a position to tear down the walls that many top-tier names have built to prolong/avoid a battle with JC. In January 2020, JC put out a hit list and said he was only coming outside for Charlie Clips, Loaded Lux, Tsu Surf & Aye Verb. While JC did manage to get the Charlie Clips battle, it was his first registered loss on the App. After releasing the hit-list it’s been 2.5 years and 13 battles later with still no signs of Tsu Surf, Aye Verb, or Loaded Lux coming outside.
Tsu Surf and Aye Verb have been flirting with the idea of getting in the ring with JC. Aye Verb has been vocal about giving URL the price he wants for the JC battle and Verb has stated that the league will not offer what he is demanding. Aye Verb has labeled JC “a high-risk low reward battler” and has put the narrative on JC that he doesn’t bring in the traffic for the big bucks. Tsu Surf has openly said on Twitter spaces he wants $70,000 for a JC battle.
Jc becoming the UM5 Champion would make it hard to deny him any further and these high-profile matches could be on the horizon. Tsu Surf has also stated, “If JC wins this $100K, I would battle him.” Winning the tournament and getting a Tsu Surf battle could open the doors to getting to other high-profile matches.
#5 Can Head Ice or Swamp defy the odds?
Nothing is ever impossible in the world of Ultimate Madness. But there has only been 1 underdog under 10% to ever win a battle and that was Tru Foe, by a split decision.
When the masses have heavily favored a battle rapper, it opens the door for the underdog to have an expectation curve and shock factor. Most fans are writing off Swamp & Head Ice’s chances at competing, so if they are able to exceed expectations they can certainly steal a round and make the battle competitive. It also doesn’t help their case that neither of them had a clean performance in their first-round performances and they both have a notorious history of stumbling or choking in their battles.
But in the words of Kevin Garnett, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE! Maybe lighting can strike twice in the same place.
Head Ice is a former KOTD Champion and has been in many judged battles where he’s obtained a collection of controversial victories. His experience may be a beneficial factor to aid him on the path to victory.
As for Swamp, he was supposed to be a part of the first Ultimate Madness tournament, but he declined because he has been transparent about struggling with short prep time. And suffered a 2nd round exit when he entered Ultimate Madness 3 at the hands of Geechi Gotti. Now once again, he is at the quarter-finals with EFB standing in his way again. While I hope he can conquer this obstacle of being fully prepared for his performance, his style already puts him at a disadvantage against a performer and an elite pure puncher like Rum Nitty.
I’m sure the odds on both of these underdogs would bring a marvelous payout on a betting website, but I’m going to save my money this time around and spend it wisely.
