Valid points. On my case I was playing very Hard with strength 8 thinking those battles would be with skill. Naturally, for the third fighter the Gorilla Arms became mandatory for me due it was not only skill. I felt those same issues.

I'll not say anything against the champion because he is broken. Even the characters on the arena tell you HOW BROKEN is him. That is why you get an alternative. With my character focused on coolness and mechanical ability, I was a joke (until I found a glitch on the corner and beat the system). But obviously, this encounter is a battle aimed for those who focused on strength.

P.s. The teleport probably is new. Before Jan/2021 I was able to corner him.

Um AFAIK you can't use weapons of any kind in those fights.

I believe he's saying that if you drop some melee weapons in the "ring" before the fight, you can then pick them up once the fight starts and use them, thereby winning by totally cheating. Which I suspect is unintended, but something I will most likely try next time I feel like trying another one of those matches.

I guess I was expecting these to be much easier considering how piss-easy the first one was against the twins...

Interesting.
I didn't know the teleporting thing was new.

Thanks for the info!

I got around to fighting that guy in the exhibition match at pacifica again.
They've definitely improved it.

going head to head with him still gets you flattened.

However you can now dodge around him when he charges... no more auto-turning to hit the player.
He also has MUCH smaller hitboxes for his fists.. No more getting hit from 5 feet away.

So now I'm happy with this; hope this update helps anyone who searches in the future.