Leverage

Staffel 02 - Episode 02: " The Tap-Out Job "

Timings:

He's yours. Hands up, son!

- Yeah! - You got him. Come on!

Stay with him, Mark! All right!

Mark?

Mark? Son!

Find your feet, now.

Thataboy, Mark!

Cover up, Mark!

Cover up, Mark! Cover up, son!

Get out of there, Mark!

Get off!

Mark, can you hear me?

Stay with me, Mark.

Mark!

Get the paramedics!

Hang on.

Stay with me, Mark.

The rich and powerful, they take what they want.

We steal it back for you.

And sometimes, bad guys make the best good guys.

We provide...

leverage.

Somebody drugged his water.

It's an old boxing trick.

He couldn't defend himself, and... -

He's still in the hospital.

Mark was undefeated.

A couple days before the fight, Rucker told him to take a dive.

I thought, Rucker was your son's manager.

He was.

But with Mark being the favorite, he got great odds on tank, so...

we fired him.

And I guess that news didn't go over so well, huh?

Rucker ain't a man used to hearing "no" around here.

You must have known that Rucker was gonna try something during the... -

During the fight. Something dirty.

I never thought he'd take it this far.

Besides, we couldn't pass up that purse.

It's five grand. That's the biggest payday we've ever seen.

See, I lost my job when the plant closed.

Mark gave up his wrestling scholarship to come home and help out.

So he poured asphalt all day, and he trained all night.

Only reason we can afford the hospital is 'cause of Jonny.

Jonny? The ring doctor.

He's my cousin.

Mark was real good, Mr. Ford.

He had a shot,...

a real shot, at moving up in the sport.

Now, Jonny says he'll never fight again.

That's Jed Rucker.

He runs a homegrown mixed martial arts league here in nebraska.

They have a very strong wrestling tradition here, so...

the talent pool is pretty deep.

Wrestlers have a good base for a blended training approach.

They can go from that to jujitsu, kickboxing, judo.

Rucker promotes fights.

And manages fighters, taking a cut every step of the way.

Yeah, you know, plus he's not above fixing bouts, as the howorths found out.

We've dealt with some lowlifes, but when I heard about this guy...

that was a nice takedown. Good ground and pound.

He's a little sloppy in a closed guard, but it's a solid armbar.

I mean, you can tell this guy's a wrestler.

This ain't the UFC, but these guys got skills.

- Hardison, where did you get these? - Online.

They're viral videos.

See, Rucker doesn't have a TV deal, it's pretty much a bare-bones operation.

You call this a sport?

Yeah, this is a sport.

These are some of the best-conditioned athletes in the world. Are you kidding me?

It's about precision, technique, skill.

Like cockfighting.

It's not a cockfight. All right? Let me show you something, Hardison. Come here. Can I borrow you?

All right. Square up. Remember what I showed you?

Are you...

There's three phases to an MMA --

To an MMA fight, okay?

One, striking.

Nice. Next is grappling - The takedown.

Exactly.

All right. The third one is jujitsu. Okay, try to isolate a joint. That's good.

That's a textbook armbar, Parker. Put some pressure on there.

- Like this? - There you go. Or you can go for a choke hold.

She got to be choking me.

- Remember that thing that I showed you? - Oh, yeah. The choke.

Lock that in. All right. You don't have to hold the arm. See, that's a triangle choke.

That's nasty. Puts pressure on his carotid artery, and the guy will submit...

- by tap out. - Eliot, I'm tapping! I'm tapping!

- These fights are won by inches, I'm telling you. - I can't breathe!

- All about leverage. - Yeah,...

- it looks really painful. - It is painful!

No TV deal, you said, huh?

Hardison, what are this guy's other interests, this Rucker guy?

- Seriously, you ask me a question right now... - I'll take that.

Yeah, rotary club, golf membership.

- Golf, huh? - Help me!

Yeah. I mean, this guy's like a 1950s sitcom character.

He plays a weekly game with the local businessmen.

In fact, last year, he won the club championship.

- Did he? Hmm. - Let me go!

- I guess it's... - She's killing me!

...it's time to hit the links.

I'm cool.

Just let me go real quick.

I'm sorry, Mr. Rucker. The pro shop says your fourth is on his way.

He's from out of town and apparently got stuck in traffic.

I'm really sorry. These things happen.

Sorry, boys! Late night.

What do you feed these gals from nebraska?

Viagra-frosted corn flakes or what?

Can we get started?

Sure, sure. Let's get started. What are you playing for here?

Huh? Oh, come on, now.

We got to make this pitch-and-putt a little bit more interesting, huh?

We usually do $100 Nassau, a press a side.

- Mr... - - Wells. Bill wells.

Yeah. A hundred bucks, huh? Yeah,...

well, I tell you what. As exciting as that sounds,...

how about we up it to two grand.

Oh, come on. Come on. Don't tell me you're scared by a little action here.

I'm sure that ford dealership and...

right here, meat packing plant over here,...

you had some good years, didn't you?

What is it you do?

- I run a gym. - Oh.

Pilates or yoga?

What do you say, Omaha? Just me and you? Hmm?

Your buddies here can loan you the cash.

I won't need no cash, Mr. Wells. Two grand it is.

Front nine, back nine - Eighteen. $6,000 total.

Sound good?

All right. Let's do it.

Good luck.

Now, this is what you'll be playing.

I replaced the core with a torus of high-density polymer.

When it spins, it creates a gyroscopic effect.

You could hit this thing with a garden hoe and it would fly straighter than an army parade.

Whoo, look at that.

What are those initials for?

You know what that means?

Quite a shot.

Nice shot.

Now, this is what Rucker will be playing.

It's got thermal nanotech inside - Like RFID chips,...

but ones that heat up and allow me to redistribute the energy upon impact from the club head.

I can bend it like beckham, baby.

Boy, you hate to see that, don't you?

Yes, I do. Come on. Let's play.

Hey!

Come on!

Watch yourself.

Hardison.

It's downhill, right?

Yes, keep going 7 inches, man.

Oh, geez.

Hey!

Well, you know, not bad for a practice round.

Time to settle up, Omaha.

What are you - What's all this?

You know, I didn't expect much from you yokels,...

but, what, are you welshing?

Hey, I'm not gonna welsh, Mr. Wells.

I just must have dropped my wallet.

- Must have dropped your... - - Look for my wallet.

What is... - You know, I've heard all kinds of thing.

But listen, I'll tell you what. I'm staying at the Derby Hotel.

Pay me tomorrow. No checks.

Guy never missed a shot. It was unbelievable.

His name's Wells. He's staying at the Derby.

Ginny works the front desk there.

Yeah, why don't you give her a call.

I want her to see if she knows why he's in town.

And see how he got a tee time at the club. I mean,...

what are we, the local muni now?

All right, work it out! Work it out! Come on, now!

Look at this, here.

That's it.

Pick it up.

Lazy bastard.

Son of a bitch.

Oh, there. Hey, there, Omaha.

Hey.

Yeah, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just... -

Well, I don't trust you.

What is it you said you were doing in Lincoln again, Mr. Wells?

Business.

- And what business is that? - Well,...

right now, betting against Nebraskans is proving pretty profitable.

Am I right?

Yeah, I guess you are.

I'm just saying. Is that my money?

Yeah, this would be yours.

Have a good day.

I want to close at 11:00 tonight.

Come here.

Look who's still here.

- Who's he talking to? - He's a walk-in.

You want to keep an eye on the Wells guy?

Not Wells. I want you to keep your eye on that other guy... -