Or is the official tournament still coming and the movie we just watched did not contain any actual "mortal kombat" but rather a series of fights where the good guys murder all the bad guys in illegal pre tournament fights?
that
Shang Tsung states that battles outside of the tournament have been a normal part of the history of the tournament
This was also the plot of Mortal Kombat 3 after Shao Khan merged Earthrealm and Outworld he basically sent a bunch of extermination squads to try to kill all of Earth's warriors before the tournament could begin.
Also Deadly Alliance literally opens with Shang Tsung and Quan Chi conspiring to murder Lui Kang before any tournament
