Anya Taylor-Joy vs Priyanka Chopra
(Writing: LMW / Results: Lookout!)

Anya Taylor-Joy
(25, 5’7, 14-1 FCBA, League of Mighty Women)

Priyanka Chopra
(39, 5’6 ½, 24-19 FCBA, Hawkeye International Sports Consortium)

Pre-Fight: Next up, League of Mighty Women’s rising star Anya Taylor-Joy will be facing Hawkeye International Sports Consortium’s Priyanka “Big Choppy” Chopra. Anya was undefeated last year, so she will be looking to pick up where she left off and continue her impressive winning streak. However, Priyanka will be looking to put a stop to her opponent’s run and get herself into the title picture once again.

Anya looks happy and confident as she addresses the audience first in the pre-fight press conference. “I had a great time in the league last year and I’m looking forward to building up on that success to go even further this year. I know it will be challenging, but I’m up for it and I will start the year with a win!”

Priyanka doesn’t look impressed as she dismisses her opponent’s recent success. “I don’t get the hype, she is just overrated. She only went undefeated last year because she didn’t face me, the Big Choppy! She never faced anyone as strong and as physical as me. I assure you, she cannot handle it. Her streak comes to an end with me.”

Priyanka definitely knows how to rile up her opponents, especially younger ones, as Anya who is generally calm and collected both in these press conferences and in the ring seem to be agitated. She uncharacteristically stands up and turns to her opponent as she replies “I’m starting to get sick of people thinking my winning streak continues because I haven’t faced them yet. Guess what, my streak is still on! At least I respected the past champions saying it. I don’t have the same respect for you!”

Priyanka calmly gets up and walks toward Anya to come face to face with her. “You will regret what you said and learn to respect me when I’m done with you.” An intense staredown follows and while it doesn’t look like it will get physical, both camps still pull their fighters back and take them backstage to end this press conference without issue.

It is fight night and Anya enters the arena first with her coach, Summer Glau, accompanying her. She looks focused, but she still waves to her fans as they cheer for her on her way to the ring. She goes through her warm up routine as she listens to her coach.

She is wearing a baby blue sports bra and matching trunks with white gloves and boots, while her hair is in double Dutch braids.

Priyanka enters the arena next and she is followed by not only the HISC coaching staff, but also Michelle Williams. Looks like Mishy is supporting her stablemates as she takes the month off. Priyanka bangs her gloves together as she walks towards the ring with a smirk on her face.

She is wearing a gold sports bra with black trim, matching trunks, black gloves and boots, while her hair is tied into space buns as a nod to her role in the latest Matrix movie.

Both fighters come to the center of the ring to receive final instructions by the referee and then Anya goes for the touch of gloves, but Priyanka ignores it and leaves her hanging. Anya shakes her head as they both step back to their respective corners. We are now ready for 10 rounds of bantamweight action!

Fight: Round 1: Priyanka quickly steps up with the ringing of the bell, willing to engage with her opponent right away, which is expected from her aggressive style. Anya is doing the same, which is unexpected on her part as she usually goes for a more defensive and calculated approach. She actually catches her opponent by surprise with her aggression and lands a jab-straight combo to start things off. She lands another jab up top and then goes to the body with a shovel hook. Anya’s early aggression seems to be working well for her, so she stays in range to land more. However, Priyanka adjusts her guard at this point and blocks her opponent's hook attempt up top and counters with two hooks to the body. Looks like Anya overstayed her welcome in the pocket as Big Choppy starts doing what she does best and goes to work her opponent’s body with an uppercut to the midsection followed by another couple of hooks to the ribs. Anya tries to fight her way out of it, but Priyanka ducks under the hook and lands a lead uppercut to her opponent’s abs. The younger fighter finally decides she had enough of this, so she steps back, but not before eating a double jab to the face.

Priyanka controls the action for the remainder of the round as she initiates the exchanges and while Anya seems game for trading punches for the most part, it is the Indian boxer that lands the better punches. As the bell signals the end of the round, Priyanka looks happy as she made a statement in the opening round. At the opposite corner Summer is not happy with her fighter and she lets her know that during the break. “What was that? You can’t let her get to your head and give her what she wants. You need to calm down, focus and stick to the game plan.”

Round 2: Priyanka brings her confidence from the opening round to the second one as she looks to initiate exchanges again. Anya, on the other hand, switches to a more defensive style as she is clearly listening to her coach and going back to her tried and true game plan. It starts paying dividends right away as she lands a double jab-straight combo to stop her opponent from getting inside. She then starts circling around to force Priyanka to chase her around. The older fighter is able to land some single punches from time to time as she closes the distance, but it is not worth the effort as she ends up getting hit with more counterpunches in return.

As we are entering the final thirty seconds in the second round, Priyanka lands two jabs to the midsection that drives Anya back towards the corner. After a frustrating round, the Indian fighter sees this as her opportunity and goes for a big swing, but Anya steps aside and lands a hook to Priyanka’s chin instead. Now the tables are turned and Priyanka is the one that is backed to the corner. Anya lands a one-two combo up top and then switches levels to score with a couple of shovel hooks. Priyanka throws a couple of defensive jabs to keep her opponent away, but still, she is forced to tighten her guard and survive the final seconds of the round. She ends up getting hit with a couple more clean shots, but she is able to block the rest for the most part.

Anya answered back with a big round win of her own to tie things up on the scorecards. Summer is happy with her fighter in this round and praises her for refocusing and sticking with the plan. It is now HISC corner’s turn to be worried about their fighter’s approach and giving her feedback on what adjustments to make.

Round 3: A quieter start to the third round as Priyanka is not going on attack right off the bell and Anya sticks with her calculated, defensive approach. Priyanka is more careful about her approach and timing when she tries to get some inside exchanges going as she looks to cut her opponent’s angles. However, Anya gradually increases the pace to throw Priyanka’s timing off and uses her quicker footwork to hit her with either single punches or short combinations and leaving before Priyanka could score with anything in return.

In the second minute, Priyanka finds an opportunity to get inside with a straight to the midsection followed by a couple of hooks to the ribs. However, it ends up being a quick exchange as Anya steps back while keeping Priyanka at bay with a defensive jab. After that, Anya goes back to controlling the action again and she does so until the ten second warning. At that point, Priyanka steps in to clinch with Anya, not minding eating a jab on her way in. As Priyanka lands a few shots from the clinch, it looks like she is also whispering in Anya’s ear, which gets her opponent angry. They are still in a tight clinch with some heated verbal exchange as the bell rings to signal the end of the round and the referee ends up having to separate them.

It ends up being a closer round, but as Anya was in control for the most part, she wins it and goes up ahead on the scorecards. However, the tension and emotions are rising, which can shake things up once again.

Round 4: Emotions are running high as both fighters directly go ahead and meet in the middle to start trading punches at the start of the fourth round. Anya scores with a one-two combo, while Priyanka lands a straight. They just stand there and exchange with more short combinations and hooks with varying degrees of success, but neither fighter gets the upper hand. However, things start to change as Big Choppy switches her focus to her opponent’s body and starts landing some big hits to the ribs. Anya tries to retaliate with a few punches of her own to the body, but they don’t seem to be causing as much damage. Another big hook to the ribs makes Anya wince as she realizes that she stayed in the pocket for too long for her good once again. Priyanka hits her with a double jab to the abs as she retreats and goes back to a defensive approach, which leaves the control to the Indian boxer.

Priyanka chases down her opponent for the rest of the round and while Anya’s footwork and defense helps her survive the round, during the few, short occasions that they engage, Priyanka deals some more damage to those ribs. As a result, Big Choppy comes back and wins the round with a good margin to tie up the score. During the break, Summer encourages her fighter to refocus once again, while they apply ice packs to Anya’s ribs.

Round 5: Anya goes back to a defensive approach at the start of this round, while Big Choppy seems keen on doing more damage. Anya uses defensive jabs and her quick footwork to keep her opponent at bay. She also has her guard a bit lower than usual to provide more protection for her ribs that Priyanka has targeted repeatedly in this fight.

As the pace slows down, Priyanka starts to get frustrated with the lack of action and she forces the issue a bit. Instead of going directly for the body, she decides to switch targets to force her younger opponent to raise her guard. She steps in and swings a wild hook, but Anya dodges it and returns fire with a one-two combo. Big Choppy tries to answer with a combo of her own, but Anya blocks the jab and then ducks under the straight to land an uppercut to the Indian beauty’s abs followed by a couple of hooks to the sides. Anya switches levels again and hits her opponent with a double jab. Priyanka goes for another hook, but she is getting sluggish here, Anya avoids it easily and scores with a one-two combo again. Big Choppy is in trouble and a big cross by Anya connecting right on the nose does it! Priyanka goes down on her back with a bloodied nose! Anya pumps her fist as she heads towards the neutral corner and the referee begins the count. 1…2…3… Priyanka raises her head and wipes blood off her nose with her glove 4…5… she sits up and takes a moment to clear her head before attempting to get up 6…7…8… she stands up and raises her guard, showing she is ready to continue. The referee quickly checks her, wipes her gloves and starts the fight again.

Anya immediately puts pressure on her opponent, trying to go for a finish here, but Priyanka now in survival mode, so she tightens up her guard and moves around to make it to the end of the round. Anya is able to get a few more clean hits in, but Priyanka survives the rest of the round. It is a big win for Anya as she not only gets ahead one more time on the scorecards, but also takes control of the fight. It is HISC corner’s turn to work hard during the break to stop the bleeding on Priyanka’s nose and prepare her for the next round.

Round 6: Priyanka starts the round with a defensive approach, which is unusual for her, but it looks like she is still feeling the effects of the knockdown from the previous round. Anya, on the other hand, is looking confident and willing to initiate exchanges, but she is still being cautious early in the round. She steps in and out of range for landing single punches or one-two combinations, which aren’t really troubling Priyanka, but force her to keep defending.

Anya starts to get more comfortable engaging in longer exchanges with her opponent, who doesn’t seem to be as willing to trade punches as she did earlier in the fight. Not wanting to lose her advantage, Anya decides to press home her advantage. She steps in and throws a one-two combo up top, but only the jab lands clean as Priyanka tightens her guard to block the straight. Seeing her opponent’s guard up high, Anya goes to the body with a jab to the abs and a hook to the ribs. Big Choppy takes it and then starts firing back as it looks like she isn’t as vulnerable as she was leading the younger fighter to believe. She scores with a couple of hooks and then lands a lead uppercut to her opponent’s abs. Another big hook to the ribs makes Anya wince and she starts to back up. Big Choppy is not letting her get away though. She lands a double jab as she chases her down and then a hook to the ribs stops Anya’s movement as she looks hurt. A couple more hooks to the ribs and an uppercut to the abs leave Anya doubled over. Priyanka hits Anya with an uppercut to the chin that sets her up for the massive hook that follows! Anya is knocked down on her back, spread-eagled and eyelids fluttering! Priyanka goes over to the neutral corner with a smirk on her face as the referee begins the count! 1…2… Anya is slowly coming to her senses as she blinks her eyes 3…4…5… she raises her head and props herself up on her elbows 6…7…8… she sits up, but it makes her wince and clutch her ribs 9…10! Anya can’t even attempt to get up as the count passes her by, it is over!

Official Result: Winner via KO in round 6, Priyanka Chopra!

Post-Fight: Priyanka calmly raises her fists and turns to the crowd, still with the smirk on her face as if to say, “what else were you expecting?” As she goes over to her corner, Mishy enters the ring to congratulate her stablemate. On the other side of the ring, medical staff attend to Anya, who needs a moment of respite before getting up. She gets the thumbs up from the medical team and then Summer helps her back to her corner stool. Just as she applies an ice pack to her bruised ribs, Priyanka comes over with Mishy behind her. It is clear that they are not there to check up on Anya, but to add insult to injury as Priyanka grabs one of Anya’s braids and yanks her to her feet. She doesn’t pay attention to Summer’s glaring look as Mishy steps up and the two come to an unspoken and uneasy agreement. Summer won’t confront them as she understands victory in FCBA comes with some leeway for the victor’s celebration, but she lets Mishy know that she will be watching and won’t let them go overboard with it.

Once they are at the HISC corner, Priyanka pushes Anya to the corner, climbs the middle ropes and presses her tummy against her defeated opponent’s face. Anya tries to push her off, but cannot muster up enough strength to do so with her battered ribs. Priyanka knows that she is in control, so she keeps rubbing in the tummy taunting as well as some verbal taunting. “See, you are no match for my strength and physicality. I told you that your little streak was coming to an end tonight. I hope you learned your lesson to respect your superiors, don’t make me teach it again.” The Indian victor finally steps down and hands Anya over to Summer, who has been waiting close by. As Summer helps her fighter to gingerly get off the ring, Priyanka goes over to the referee and gets her hand raised in victory.

It is a big win for Priyanka that could not only take her back into the top 10 bantamweight rankings, but also bring her back into the title contender discussion. As for Anya, it is a tough loss that puts an end to her winning streak, but if she wants to be a serious title contender, it is also an opportunity to show that she can come back stronger after a loss.