Diana:
(23, 5’5, 22:6 BBU, SIRENs)

Victoria:
(27, 5’5, 23:25 BBU, Kear’s Kats)

BEFORE:
Another two months since Diana Korkunva last defended her Flyweight title belt against ex-champ Gemma Merna, and the Siren is all again all excited about the recent changes to her stable, and of course offering her thoughts about her latest opponent tonight, Victoria Justice.

“I was sad to see people like Danni and Mathilde go, but they’re definitely going onto other projects, and I’m already getting along with Ela and Nicole,” Diana says to reporters before her fight. “As for Victoria, unfortunately I don’t watch much American television - apparently she’s some kind of big wig over there, isn’t she? She doesn’t have the best record in the FCBA, but at the end of the day, it was her BBU fights that convinced me that she was a worthy opponent for the belt.”

Victoria Justice definitely having a mixed year if you count in her FCBA fights, but the 27-year-old American actress is looking confident as she speaks to reporters on the other side of the arena, dressed in a jade-blue sports bra and pair of short black tights.

“Well, I beat Becky G earlier this year, right? That’s got to count for something. I’m just grateful for the opportunity to challenge Diana for the title. I know she’s taking a big risk with putting her belt on the line, but I’ll be sure to give her a run for her money. Who knows? You might see the belt strapped around a new waist by the end of tonight!” 

Ladies come together in the beach ring and the referee takes the belt from Diana for safekeeping. It’s indeed the Siren’s seventh title defense thus far, Diana having beaten most of the top competition this division has to offer and hence fueling those rumours that she might dip her toe into other potential markets sooner rather than later. For now, Diana looks at her belt with longing eyes, like a precious babe taken from its mother as she battles Victoria to reclaim her right to it. 

Justice also respectful in the pre-fight segment but with a sly grin on her face - the girl knows there’s plenty on the line tonight, and the fact that she might not yet get another opportunity like this in the near future. Ladies touch their gloves before the referee sends them back to corners. There goes the bell and HERE we go with ten rounds of Flyweight action! This here’s for the BBU Flyweight title!

ROUND 1:
Ladies get right to the action! If Diana was expecting easy pickings from her choice of opponent tonight, well, she’s sorely mistaken when Victoria lands the first blow of the evening with a lightning flurry slammed into her nose and lips. Surprising speed indeed for the challenger as Justice shows off her trained footwork mixed with additional brutal combos, spending the rest of the round headhunting Diana or rattling her guard before the champ knows what hit her. Korkunova sent reeling early in this fight but also keeping up tentative hooks that more or less miss wide, Victoria also seen weaving and dodging with haste. Round ends and it’s a more or less draw after Diana switches late to her own jabbing hands, repaying Victoria back to the face with rigour and spit.

ROUND 2:
Victoria however is still brimming with energy as she keeps moving fast, circling the slightly bulkier woman as she lets loose at Diana’s head. Diana holding back by contrast, defending with her arms glued to her face but inadvertently letting some shots past her guard and into her body. Justice enjoying her push inwards, racking up points without much resistance and off to a good start in this fight with the champion focusing on defense. Diana perhaps saving all her energy for the latter rounds, but if this imbalance keeps up, she might as well hang those gloves up for good! 

ROUND 3:
And HERE comes Diana! Korkunova launches herself back into the fray as she finally decides to gain back ground against Justice, who’s suddenly heard yelping as she’s pushed back from shots to her arms and straight flurries pounding on her tummy. Justice holding on to her cool though, only the third round as she realises this may just be a growth spurt from the champ. As such, Justice retains a holding pattern at a distance, and isn’t in much danger for the rest of the round as the two girls go back to trading jabs to the cheek. Later, Diana attempts another rush forward, and she snags Victoria on the side of the head with a sudden hook combo. Victoria gasps, gets knocked around a little but otherwise manages to scoot away to safety once more. Diana’s corner back to beaming at their girl earning some points for herself at last.

ROUND 4:
So far Justice has been showing off her skills as she dodges most of Diana’s lumbering attacks and then capitalises on her weaknesses. Diana again gets poked to the face and body, thrown off balance a couple of times as Victoria wades in for another attack run and the flurries start to add up. Different issue now as Diana is able to also charge back at her foe, but somehow she’s unable to catch Justice off guard with any swings, as the challenger ducks and weaves before another fist is shoved into her face. Oops! Diana suddenly GROGGY from a stiff left hand to the nostrils! Victoria easily STORMS in, batters the Siren’s body with a left-right combo before she takes Diana OFF her feet with a haymaker to the chin!! OUCH!! AND DOWN GOES THE CHAMP!! Diana flattened onto the sand dunes as her arms and legs kick up dirt on the side! Definitely a rare sight indeed as Victoria parades back to her corner looking like a million dollars! But Diana’s already on her slow way to recovery, shaking the daze from her head as she props herself back up on elbows before getting up by the count of 8. Justice however with an early victory spin tonight, and just needs to ride the waves all the way to her first title belt!

ROUND 5:
Korkunova still fighting a little sluggish as she finds a way to deal with her opponent's speed and slippery nature. Victoria just content to press in and hound her to her head, perhaps score a second and final knockdown to cement her place amongst champions. But Korkunova holds her ground, thick body taking a beating by Victoria’s leaner nature means she also lacks power and pain inducement. Diana also not exposing her face like last time, means the rapidly tiring Victoria is also less able to keep up pace with her younger counterpart. Last minute and Diana even drives a cross hand into the cheek,  bunching up Vicky’s face and sending her grunting backwards. Justice no choice but to regroup at distance, her guard reformed and the pressure mounting on both girls’ shoulders to win. 

ROUND 6:
But Justice is visibly tiring the longer this fight draws itself out, having spent the first half of the rounds chasing and trying to knock the champion down, but now more than a little shell-shocked when Diana sails in to pick up the pieces on her behalf. A left hand slams hard into the side of her head, which compounds her situation, throwing Justice into the ropes from the impact with a loud gasp, before the challenger gets folded over into two by repeated shoves of leather gloves into her midsection. Diana gets in close to enact her comeback, but Victoria wisely wraps up with her for a moment, spinning them both about the ropes before Justice manages to scatter away and out of the danger zone. The challenger tries another last ditch effort to control Diana's advance upon her, firing jabs to her face, which sees mixed results on the way to the bell as Diana still squeezes in a cross hand or two into the body from afar. At long last, Korkunova strides ahead of her foe, raising a tired hand as she acknowledges the cheers of her fans on her way back to corner. 

ROUND 7:
Back into action as Diana continues to wipe the sand dunes with Justice, the Kear’s Kats starlet drained of energy by this point and immediately falling back into survival mode at the first sign of trouble. Diana hella aggressive compared to the first few rounds as she stalks forward consistently, slamming jabs into the challenger’s guard or rocking hooks to the body outta nowhere. Justice in danger soon, barely putting up any sort of counter-punching strategy and spending most of the round simply trying to stay out of range and alive. She does manage to return a combo to Diana’s chest and body late in the third minute, but the champion on fire, Diana simply ignoring the pain and powering through with another straight right that grazes the chin, sending Justice reeling into the ropes once more. Victoria’s back is back to hugging the nylon as Diana walks her down in the final seconds, chopping gloves up and into her midsection followed by twacks to the arms as she tries to put her down with a return knockdown. Unfortunately, the bell rings too soon, and Justice lives to fight another day.

ROUND 8:
A late rally from Justice, however, as she bounces forward after catching her breath, but will it be enough? Diana swinging back at her head like a mad lad on her own dime, especially as Victoria gets close, and the two ladies nail each other with blasting hooks to the face, hoping that one last punch might end it all for them. Justice for a moment impressively holding her own, weaving tiredly to avoid a hook from Diana before slamming one of her own clean into the side of the champion’s face. Diana grunts as her chin grazes by another shot, and for a moment, it looks like Korkunova might be stumbling forward in a daze… But all of Victoria’s advantage wiped out in an instant as Diana refuses to budge, ducks under at the last moment before burying her mitts into Victoria’s belly, another one-two pump-action uppercuts delivered to her waistline has Victoria gasping and hugging her body, before the bell rings too soon for either girl to follow through their attack. We’re going the distance in this fight, even as both ladies look battered, bruised but eager to make it over the finish line!

ROUND 9:
That’s it! Justice looks gassed as hell, barely making it out of her corner before Diana’s  already in her face and swinging away! Korkunova still the champ for a reason, folks, as she swings away at Victoria’s arms over and over, trying to crack that outer shell and score on that vulnerable chin underneath. Diana storming in, not giving the challenger any breathing space as she torques those hooks into the side of Victoria’s head, occasionally striking gold as she snaps Justice’s torso this way and that. Victoria on her last legs as she gets pushed and pinned into the ropes, lips parted behind her gloves and eyelids already fluttering as Diana hammers a low right into her tummy, before a textbook uppercut CONNECTS with her chin, and JUSTICE CRUMPLES! It’s a beautiful KNOCKDOWN right back for Diana Korkunova, and none too soon! Victoria gets her strings cut as she free-falls to canvas, lying there in a heap the entire way as the referee has no choice but to count her out at ten! It’s over!!

Official Decision: Diana Korkunova defeats Victoria Justice via KO9! Diana Korkunova is STILL BBU Flyweight Champion!

AFTER:
A huge win for Korkunova tonight after one of the toughest fights of her career! Many pundits had definitely dismissed Victoria’s chances prior to this fight, but the Kear’s Kat’s starlet managed to stay alive till the ninth round, which is a feat in itself. 

Now, the medics are quickly pouring into the ring to check on Justice’s condition. Victoria turned over on her back and now sitting up by the ropes, looking disappointed and slightly unaware still of her surroundings. Meanwhile, Diana celebrates back in her corner, a wide smile etched on her face as she thanks her trainers for hanging in there all the way with her.

Later, she approaches Victoria in her corner, and the two girls share a cordial embrace and respectful shake of the hands before Justice has to be supported out of the ring by multiple personnel.

“That girl deserves to be champion,” Justice later says to reporters backstage. “I gave it my all and still it wasn’t good enough. Period. Diana’s young, and the sky’s her limit. I’m sure she might even conquer another division one day.”

Meanwhile, Diana is also full of praise for her opponent tonight: “She got me good in the early rounds, didn’t she? Told ya this wasn’t some kind of fluke choice of opponent. Victoria almost made me regret in about the halfway mark after she sent me down to the canvas… Regardless of who won, Justice is one helluva fighter, and I have no regrets whatsoever about choosing her as my dance partner. If she ever wants to try and take this belt away from me again in the future, well, she knows where to find me.”