Anya Taylor-Joy vs Kyra Santoro

(Writing: LMW / Results: Lookout!)

Anya Taylor-Joy
(26, 5’7, 16-4 FCBA, League of Mighty Women)

Kyra Santoro
(29, 5’7, 32-12 FCBA, VIXENs)

Pre-Fight: Two young and exciting fighters will be battling it out next as the League of Mighty Women’s Anya Taylor-Joy faces the VIXENs’ Kyra Santoro. After staying undefeated last year, Anya is having a much rougher season this year with ups and downs. She will be looking to bounce back from her loss to Elizabeth Olsen in her previous fight. Kyra, on the other hand, won all four of her fights this season and while this will be her biggest challenge yet this year, she will be looking to add another win to her current streak.
Anya has a serious expression on her face as she addresses the crowd first during the pre-fight press conference. “I’ll be honest; it has been a frustrating year for me so far. All my losses this year came against those who held a title this year or are currently holding one, so some might use that as an excuse, but I won’t. I want to get better and avenge those losses. I want to win those fights and hold the titles myself. I strive for greatness.” She takes a moment after making her point and it looks like she just realized her opponent is there too, so she continues. “No disrespect to Kyra, but she is not at that level yet, so this is a must win for me.”
Kyra tilts her head and purses her lips as if she is disappointed with Anya’s indifference more than anything. She then shakes her head and takes her turn to address the audience. “I understand that she is frustrated, but she says she means no disrespect and then goes on to underestimate me. I guess I just expected more from someone who is regarded as a nice and intelligent fighter. I’ll teach her that I am not to be underestimated.” There is clearly some tension between the two, but they both keep things civil and respectful as they shake hands before leaving the press room.
Anya comes out through the curtains first, followed by Summer Glau, who seems to be back at her role to coach Anya after a brief absence. Anya quickly waves to the fans cheering for her, but otherwise she seems focused on the match as she walks toward the ring with purpose.
She is wearing a black sports bra with red trim, matching trunks, red gloves and boots, while her hair is in a ponytail.
Kyra comes out next with her coach accompanying her. She waves to the crowd cheering for her with a smile on her face, but her demeanor changes when she enters the ring as if to say she now means business.
She is wearing an orange sports bra with white trim and matching trunks combined with white gloves and boots, while her hair is also tied into a loose ponytail.
Both fighters come to the center of the ring to receive the final instructions from the referee and then they touch gloves with a show of respect, but also with a cold stare from both sides. They step back to their respective corners and we are now ready for 10 rounds of bantamweight action!

Fight: Round 1: We are getting immediate sparks as both fighters meet at the center, ready to throw hands. Anya is uncharacteristically aggressive at the start of this fight as she scores the first hit with a jab followed by a straight. Kyra is more than happy with just standing there and exchanging some punches as she answers with a left hook to the ribs and a shovel hook to the abs. Anya hits a double jab, but the follow up hook misses, which creates an opening for Kyra to land a hard straight. They continue to stand and trade to the delight of the fans. After a few shots getting blocked on both sides, Anya goes to the body with a hook to the ribs and creates an opening up top. She lands a double jab, but she is off the mark with the straight, because Kyra hits her with a big hook to the chin at that moment. Anya looks stunned and Kyra capitalizes with a couple of hooks to the ribs and another hook to the chin. Anya is in full retreat now as she seems surprised to find herself in such a bad position this early in the fight.
Kyra lands a few more hard punches in the last minute, but cannot find the punch to put her opponent down, which would have been a huge upset in the opening round. Still, she dominated that round, so she won it easily on points. Looks like Anya actually underestimated her opponent’s power, so engaging in that long, brawl-like exchange proved to be a very costly mistake for her. During the break, Summer tries to calm her fighter down and give her some pointers.
 

Round 2: Anya starts this round with a defensive approach as she tries to slow things down and re-evaluate her game plan after an awful start in the opening round. Kyra, on the other hand, is happy with how things went, so she is happy to take the role of the aggressor in this round as well. Anya utilizes her footwork and uses her guard more effectively this round to keep herself out of the harm’s way. Kyra still tests her guard though, as she keeps hammering her opponent’s arms and occasionally splits the guard to hit a straight followed by some short combinations. She controls the action and slowly adds to her punch total.
Anya starts to get a bit more comfortable towards the end of the round. She starts landing some good combinations to make up lost ground, but it is not enough to change the result. Kyra wins the round again and she is now comfortably in the lead.
 

Round 3: Kyra is on the attack once again as Anya sticks to her defensive approach. The pace is slower in this round though, which is helping Anya at the moment as she seems to have recovered from that opening round beating she took. Kyra is still the one who initiates the exchanges, but Anya is firing back with some precise counter-punching this round. Kyra ends up having to work hard to find an opening and once she connects with a straight or a hook, Anya fires back, landing short combinations. In other words, Anya finally establishes her counter-attacking style in this fight, which usually ends up frustrating her opponents. However, Kyra is still in a good position, so she keeps working, hoping to land one of her power punches.
It ends up being the closest round yet in this fight, but Anya does enough with her counterpunches to win her first round against Kyra. The American model doesn’t seem worried during the break though, as she is still leading on points.
 

Round 4: More of the same as the fourth round begins. Kyra clearly hasn’t been discouraged by her opponent’s counterpunching yet, so she is still on the attack, looking for that big punch. However, Anya is really finding her rhythm as this round progresses and she firmly establishes her game plan. When Kyra tries to go for the body, Anya stops her with a lead uppercut. When she goes for a one-two combo up top, Anya side steps and lands a hook instead. It is now starting to get frustrating for Kyra. At least in the previous round she was landing a shot before getting punched back, but now she is getting punched just for trying. She starts going for bigger swings out of frustration, but it only provides more openings for Anya to turn her counterpunches into longer combinations.
Anya finds her signature round win to offset Kyra’s dominant win in the opening round. She had all the answers for her opponent in this round. With this big win, Anya ties things up on the scorecards as well. It looked like Kyra was running away with the victory since the opening round, but it is now anyone’s game.
 

Round 5: After the break, Kyra seems to have her composure back as she is not playing into her opponent’s hand by swinging wildly in this round. She is still looking for an opening, but she is taking her time to find the right opportunity. This leads to a slower start to the round and it is indeed Anya who initiates the first exchange in this one. She lands a one-two combo and then steps away as Kyra just about lands a hook to the ribs. Anya uses her footwork to get in and out of range to land these combinations without risking a longer exchange like the one in the opening round. Kyra is getting frustrated once again, but she stays patient. It pays off as we enter the last thirty seconds of the round, when she throws a hard straight that slips through Anya’s guard and lands right on her nose. That shot forces Anya back with a bloodied nose. She blocks the following one-two combo, but she is further pushed back to the ropes. Two partially blocked hooks sway Anya left and right on the ropes, so she tightens her guard up top. Seeing that, Kyra switches targets and starts pounding Anya’s abs with shovel hooks, but she soon gets saved by the bell.
It was a close round until that last part, but that final offense puts it beyond doubt as a win for Kyra, who has now taken control of the fight and the lead on the points once again. During the break, Anya’s corner team tries to stop the nosebleed, while Summer tries to motivate her fighter. On the other corner, Kyra seems content and focused.
 

Round 6: Kyra is back on the attack, looking to finish what she started last round. Anya is on the defense as she is still recovering, but she is also looking for some counterpunching opportunities to even things up again. Kyra steps in and throws a short combination, but only the jab is on target as Anya steps back to avoid the rest. Anya circles around the ring and Kyra chases her down as she scores with some single punches in the first minute.
Around the halfway point of the round, Kyra initiates another exchange and hits cleanly with a one-two combination, while Anya manages to score with a body shot. Kyra then swings in with a hook, but Anya ducks and lands a big overhand that hurts her opponent. Kyra looks a bit dazed, but she is trying to fight her way out of it with a one-two combination. Anya answers with a hook to the ribs and an uppercut to the chin that forces Kyra to take a few steps back. Now the roles are reversed as Kyra circles around, trying to recover, while Anya hunts her down.
As we enter the last minute of the round, Anya finds an opportunity to cut the angle and she steps in with an uppercut to the abs. As Kyra winces, Anya follows it up with a lead uppercut to the chin that sets up a one-two combo. Kyra steps back with her guard down, so Anya steps in with a big swing and the hook is on target, which drops Kyra down the mat on her side! Anya takes a look at her opponent and then walks over to the neutral corner as the referee begins the count! 1…2…3… Kyra blinks her eyes and then raises her head as she still looks dazed 4…5…6… she rolls over and gets into a sitting position, still trying to clear her head 7…8… she shakes her head as if to say she cannot gather herself in time to get up and continue 9…10! It is all over!
 

Official Result: Winner via KO in round 6, Anya Taylor-Joy!
 

Post-Fight: Anya looks relieved now that she got the victory. Summer enters the ring to hug and to congratulate her fighter. On the other side of the ring, Kyra needs a moment to recover as the medical staff checks up on her. She gets up before long and gets the thumbs up from the doctor. Before she leaves the ring, Anya comes over to check up on her as well. They share a short, respectful conversation and a fist bump.
After getting her hand raised by the referee, Anya takes the mic to address the fans. “I’ll admit that I had to work harder than I expected for that win, but I’ll take it. It goes to show that you have to perform well every time you step into this ring and I’ll keep doing that!” With that, she leaves the ring with her coach.
It was an impressive fight with great performances from both fighters, but it was Anya who made the necessary adjustments and took an important win in the end. It might have been a losing effort for Kyra, but she showed how dangerous she can be, especially early in the fight. That being said, both Anya and Kyra still have room to improve and things to prove.