The Netflix ending The cage It was a rollercoaster of ups and downs, and with all the chaos of Taylor Keita’s (Melvin Boomer) final fight against Ibrahim Ibara (Bosh), some of the show’s final moments need explaining. The cage follows Taylor’s journey from nobody in the world of French MMA to UFC’s next rising star. However, such a huge rise in fame has come with some setbacks, and Taylor has suffered more than a few hard blows. It is precisely because of these setbacks and the similarities to the most inspirational sports films that The cage is one of the best shows on Netflix.
In the final scenes of The cageTaylor experienced his greatest victory and the beginning of his greatest defeat. Although he defeated Ibrahim, Taylor gained a new opponent. The final scenes of the show saw Niko (Antoine Simony) take on an even more villainous role than he had been playing throughout the series, and he seemingly sabotaged Taylor’s entire career. It may not be clear exactly what Niko did with Taylor’s water and why he put something in it, but The cage had some clues that show exactly how devastating his betrayal was.
Why did Niko put steroids in Taylor’s water at the end of the cage?
Niko was jealous of Taylor’s MMA success and wanted to drag him down
The big twist at the end The cage saw Niko, Taylor’s best friend, betray him. After Taylor won the fight, a group of ARES officers were about to test him for steroids. Niko, however, convinced them to visit Taylor last, which gave him time to put steroids in the water that Taylor had asked him to drink.. Niko was taking steroids the whole time The cageso he already had some with him. The white powder on his fingers proves that he crushed one of the pills and poured the powder into Taylor’s drink.
Niko’s betrayal was a shocking moment to end The cage onwards, but there is a rather simple explanation for his actions. Niko spiked Taylor’s drink with steroids because he was jealous of his friend’s meteoric rise to MMA fame. He wanted to be the best and he wasn’t going to sit by while Taylor completely overshadowed him. Niko wanted to be on Taylor’s level, and when he couldn’t move up, he dragged Taylor back down the only way he could: by invalidating his fight against Ibrahim and ruining his credibility.
Niko wanted to be on Taylor’s level, and when he couldn’t move up, he dragged Taylor back down the only way he could: by invalidating his fight against Ibrahim and ruining his credibility.
Taylor’s rise to fame in MMA was about to be completed after his fight with Ibrahim. He was offered the chance to fight in the UFC, which is the Holy Grail of MMA leagues, and there seemed to be no stopping him. The only way Niko could guarantee Taylor would stay with him would be by ruining his chances of joining the UFC, so he turned up the heat on the water.. After taking a hit of steroids in the water, there was no way Taylor could pass the drug test. His fight against Ibrahim would be disqualified and Taylor would be disgraced, sending him back to the same level as Niko.
Is Boss alive at the end of the cage?
Boss was put into a coma after Ibrahim was stabbed by someone
Boss (Franck Gastambide), owner of Taylor’s gym and her longest-serving trainer, was stabbed by someone in the underground fighting ring in the Stockholm suburbs and did not appear in the final episode of The cage. Given his injury and complete absence in the finale, many viewers could assume he died from the stabbing. As Bilal (Yanisse Kebbab) revealed, however, Boss wasn’t actually dead, he was in a coma. As he was unable to attend the final match against Ibrahim, Georges St-Pierre traveled from Canada to France and took over as Taylor’s coach.
Boss’s health wasn’t the only potentially confusing thing about his attack, and even the circumstances leading up to it were a little strange. Boss threatened to release evidence that Ibrahim had abused his ex-girlfriend, which would have ended his MMA career and potentially put him in prison, so Ibrahim had one of his followers stab him.. Ibrahim’s plan ended up backfiring, as Taylor told him during the fight that she would hand over Boss’s photos to the police.
How Isabelle’s revelation prepared Taylor for her final fight
Isabelle’s betrayal and cruelty gave Taylor the eye of the tiger
Another big twist that happened at the beginning of the end of The cage came from Isabelle (Camille de Sablet), Taylor’s mother. In The cage In episode 3, Isabelle convinced Taylor to enter the tournament because she needed money to pay her boyfriend, Régis (Vini Vivarelli), a loan shark. However, after Taylor left the arena to check on her, Isabelle revealed that she was fleeing to Mallorca with Régis and was never in any real danger.. Isabelle made Regis give her a black eye to make it look like she was in danger of being killed, but she was just tricking her son the whole time.
Isabelle explained that she played Taylor because she always resented him as her son and blamed him for not being smart enough and not doing enough to provide for her. These were incredibly cruel and hurtful words, but they actually ended up helping Taylor. Isabelle’s cruelty finally gave Taylor the aggression and “eye of the tiger” he needed to beat Ibrahim. The anger and betrayal he felt after talking to his mother were the last things he needed to truly become a fighter, not just a guy who fights.
Why Taylor didn’t stop fighting after Ibrahim’s illegal attack
Taylor finally had a fighter’s heart and wanted to win fair and square
During the final fight in The cageTaylor had a golden opportunity to win. Ibrahim dealt Taylor another illegal blow by kneeing him in the head after the round ended, and as Georges St-Pierre explained, Taylor could have won by simply not returning to the ring and allowing Ibrahim to be disqualified. However, Taylor did not want to win by disqualification and, as he explained to Elena (Edwige Ahonto), he did not want Ibrahim to be able to claim that he had “stolen” his victory.. Taylor had already become a real fighter by this point, and a win by disqualification simply wouldn’t have been satisfactory.
There was another reason Taylor wanted to keep fighting, even though he could have won by staying out: boss. Taylor still needed to make Ibrahim pay for what he did to Boss, and he couldn’t do that if Ibrahim was disqualified. Simply arresting him would not have been enough, as Bilal highlighted that a criminal investigation would take months at best. Taylor needed to beat Ibrahim that night, literally and figuratively, to get the revenge Boss deserved.
What the End of the Cage Really Means
The Cage is about perseverance and finding the fighter within
The end of The cagelike many sports films, it was largely about the importance of perseverance. Everything about Taylor’s journey from “outsider” to French MMA’s next rising star exemplifies how important it is to never give up. Almost all of the characters in The cageincluding Boss, Isabelle, Niko and others, wanted Taylor to quit at some point, but he never listened to them. It’s because he kept going even when it seemed like there was no hope that Taylor would be able to win. As Georges St-Pierre said, Taylor’s greatest enemy was himself, and he learned to overcome all his limitations.
Without the techniques and training of MMA fighters, and without the life experiences that gave him the “eye of the tiger,” Taylor would have faded into obscurity.
However, perseverance is not the only thing that makes a champion, and The cage It differentiated itself from other sports films by highlighting this fact. Much of Taylor’s journey focused on showing that Taylor couldn’t win with determination alone. It was only after Taylor received a lot of help from some of the best MMA fighters in the world and experienced real-life moments that toughened him that he was able to become a great. Without the techniques and training of MMA fighters, and without the life experiences that gave him the “eye of the tiger,” Taylor would have faded into obscurity.
Niko’s betrayal in the final moments of The cagehowever, it highlights a lack of perseverance and a major theme of the series. In many ways, Niko represents the fights that happen far beyond the confines of the cage. No matter how much Taylor trained and how much determination he had, his real life always found a way to follow him into the Octagon. Niko was a bad part of Taylor’s life and it ended up coming back to haunt him. If The cage returns for a second season, Taylor will have to figure out how to manage her personal life to win again.