Lexa

We are met at the fighter's entrance by Dana. As he walked us to my dressing room, he explained the schedule. I would be fighting in the second preliminary fight of the night and it was scheduled to start at about five pm. He said that someone would come and tell us when it was five minutes till fight time and at that time, we needed to make our way to the entrance of the arena and await my music to begin playing. Once the music played, I will walk down the walkway and out into the arena where I will be met by an official to check my gloves and mouthpiece before entering the ring. The ring announcer will then announce both fighters and the ref will take over from there. After the fight I will come back to the dressing room and be checked out by a UFC doctor and then can shower and make my way out to watch the rest of the fights.

It was now only two, so I have about three hours to relax and then warm up. It was just Clarke and me right now. Jose and O would hopefully be here shortly. I looked at Clarke, "Hey, remember that massage you gave me at the tournament in the locker room? Do you think I could get another one to loosen up before I start warming up?"

She smiles, "On one condition, everything between now and the end of the fight stays professional. No fooling around, you need to concentrate."

"What? I don't get a good luck kiss before the fight."

"Fine, one good luck kiss before you go into the ring."

I step close and take her in my arms and kiss her deeply. "Alright, deal starting now."

She smacks me and shakes her head, "Go get changed into your fight gear and then come out and lay on the table face down."

I smirk and say, "Yes ma'am, whatever you say, doc."

Time flies when you are having fun and before I know it, it is thirty minutes until fight time. O has my hands taped and my gloves on. I am warm and loose and just pacing back and forth. Soon there is a knock on the door, meaning it is time to go. I look at Octavia and say, "What are the odds on the fight? Right now, you are the underdog at -600, but that is to be expected."

Clarke says, "Are you fucking kidding me right now. You need to concentrate on the fight not the betting odds."

I smirk, "O you know what to do, right?" She nods and we head out the door. Octavia and Jose in front and Clarke and I walking hand in hand as American Oxygen plays. Breathe out, breathe in/American oxygen, woah/Every breathe I breathe/Chasin' this American Dream/We sweat for a nickel and a dime/Turn it into an empire, whoa/Breathe in this feeling/American, American oxygen.

When I step into the arena, the crowd goes wild. I can't believe how many people are here. I look down front and find Ash and the group screaming and yelling. As I get closer, Asher runs to the barrier and I can hear him yelling 'Xa, over here!' I smile and walk towards him. People I don't know are holding out their hands to give me high fives, it is awesome. By the time I make it to Asher, Ash is there beside him. He says, "Xa, I need to give you a good luck hug and kiss. Pick me up." I look at Ash and she nods and hands him over the railing to me.

I say, "Hey buddy, thank you so much for this wonderful hug and kiss. You are going to be my good luck charm, okay buddy."

He just laughs and says, "I know I am now go out there and kick her butt!"

I laugh and hand him back to Ash. Once she sets him down, she reaches and pulls me into a hug and tells me good luck. I say, "Thanks, when I win can I come get him and take him into the ring with me?"

"If you win, you can do whatever you want!"

Five minutes later, I have been cleared to enter the ring. I turn and hug O and Jose, then I reach for Clarke and take her face into my hands and kiss her deeply. I then climb in the ring. I run a lap around the cage and then start to stretch out my arms.

The announcer says, "Introducing first: in the red corner we have the challenger, a free style fighter, hailing from Afghanistan, now fighting out of San Francisco, California. She stands in at five foot nine inches tall, weighing one hundred and forty pounds, with a reach of seventy-two inches. This is her first professional fight. I give you Lexa 'Stryker' Trikru." I raise my hand and the crowd goes wild.

"In the blue corner, a kickboxer and mixed martial artist, with a pro record of 14-3. She is fighting out of British Columbia, Candia. Standing five foot eight inches and weighing one hundred and forty-five pounds. She has a sixty-nine-inch reach and is currently ranked the number four featherweight in the world. She is the former Bellator Women's Featherweight world champion Jewel 'the KO Queen" Budd." She raises her hand, and the crowd erupts into cheers and screams of 'KO Queen'."

After the introductions, the ref says, "Fighters to the center. Okay, you have been given the rules in your locker room. Do you understand them?" We both nod affirmative. "Alright, let's have a good clean fight. Touch gloves now if you want and then go to your corners and wait for the bell.

I head over to where O, Jose and Clarke are standing outside the cage. Octavia looks at me and says, "You ready?"

I smirk and say, "I was born for this shit!"

Clarke shakes her head at me, "Please be careful."

The bell rings and I head cautiously to the center of the ring.

Ash

The bell rings and Lexa walks to the center cautiously as does her opponent. They both throw a few jabs to try and get the others timing and distance down. Lexa ducks down and throws a right hook to the body and then a left uppercut. They both land solid and seem to surprise Jewel. Asher is on his feet jumping up and down yelling. He is so excited. They each land a couple of jabs but nothing significant. The round continues with Lexa stalking Jewel down throwing jabs to the head and body. They exchange like this, with a back and forth of punches for the first three minutes.

Then Jewel throws a hard front kick to Lexa's solo plexus that connects hard and throws her into the fence. Jewel takes the opportunity to get her in a Mui Tai clench and she throws a couple of hard knees to Lexa's stomach and sides. She follows the knees up with a massive elbow to her right eye that lands solid. It looks like Lexa may be in trouble. Jewel continues with the knees and elbows as Lexa tries to cover up. Finally, with about thirty seconds left in the round, Lexa regains her composure and is able to reverse the clinch so that Jewel is against the fence. She tucks her head under Jewel's chin and unleashes a couple of hard shots to the body that land cleanly. Jewel lowers her hands to block Lexa's knee and when she does, Lexa throws a right hook that lands to the side of her head and then follows through with an elbow as the bell rings. As they both head to their corners, you can see the swelling on both their faces.

Lexa

Well, that didn't go as good as I hoped. I'm not sure what my problem is, when she got me against the cage, I lost my composure, and she had her way with me until I finally reversed it. I'm just not reacting fast enough. When I get to the corner, O says, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I don't know. It's like I can see her punches and kicks in slow motion, but I'm thinking too much and didn't react in time when she had me on the cage."

"Well, you need to get your shit together before she kicks your ass! Please tell me you aren't doing this on purpose to get better odds."

"What? No, I told you I'm just thinking too much."

Clarke comes into my view and begins checking my eye, "Babe, you need to protect this eye. That elbow really did a number on it and another one and it is going to split wide open."

I can't help but smile like a school kid because she called me babe. She smacks my shoulder. "Are you listening to me?"

"All I heard was you call me babe!"

"Would you stop and concentrate! Don't let her keep hitting your eye."

Jose says, "When she throws that front kick, sidestep it and throw a spinning elbow and stay off the cage." I nod as they clap indicating ten seconds left. I stand up and await the bell.

When the bell rang, Jewel came charging out. I used a ginga and move out of the way of her charge. Once she realizes I am behind her she throws a spinning back kick. I duck low and deliver a Martelo do Chão kick which catches her on the side of the face knocking her backwards. She loses her balance and falls to the mat. I see this as an opportunity, so I approach and get her in a full mount before she recovers. I am able to land a few punches before she can pull me in and close the guard. I manage to land a clean hard elbow before she can buck me off.

Once we are back standing, she throws a few body shots and then that damn front kick. When she does, I sidestep it and throw a spinning elbow that catches her in the temple that sends her into the cage. I follow it up with a flying knee to her chin, but she is able to grab me in her Mui Tai clinch and lands a few elbows and knees. I manage to flip her, so she is against the cage and land a few knees of my own. I look up at the clock and see there are still two minutes left in the round. She is trying to reverse me back against the cage, but I squat down and grab her just below her butt and pick her up. She starts to squirm, and I take two quick steps and slam her to the ground landing in a side mount. Her head hits the mat hard and for a second I think I have knocked her out but then she bucks hard and almost throws me off of her.

I put my right forearm across her neck to disrupt her breathing and keep my body heavy on hers to keep her from throwing me off. As she tries to push me off, I use the arm on her neck to throw short elbows to her face and position my other arm under one of her legs to keep her from reversing me. Unfortunately, I don't have control of her hands and she is able to land a few shots to the side of my head. I move my forearm back across her neck and deliver a couple of vicious knees to her side and then swing my hips and leg over to position myself in full mount.

She quickly grabs me behind the neck and pulls me in so that I can't throw any big punches, so I throw some short body shots to her side while laying on top of her. As I pull back to deliver another body shot with my left, she bucks hard enough to roll me off and pins my left arm with her knee. She gets me in a full mount with her right knee on my left forearm further pining it. She sits up and starts to reign down punches to my face. I can feel my eyebrow split open and blood starts to run down my face. I try to get my arm unpinned but can't instead I only manage to move her knee from my forearm to my hand. Her knee is pushing down on the palm of my hand, so I try to cover up as best as possible while I look up at the clock.

There are 45 seconds left to go in the round, I just need to hold on for the end of the round. Jewel pries my right hand away from my face and lands a massive elbow to the same spot under my eye and blood splatters everywhere. Great now I have blood flowing from above and below my left eye. She lands another one before I can cover up. I have to do something quick. I try to use my feet to push up to get her off balance put she is sitting on my hips. I try throwing my hips from side to side but this causes her to lay flat on top of me in order to keep control. I try again to free my arm but this time she grabs my wrist in a wrist lock and spins into side control, effectively pushing my wrist backwards with a tremendous amount of pressure. If she puts too much more, she will break my wrist. With 15 seconds left she threads her other arm between my body and elbow, placing her shoulder in my armpit and using it to push up on my shoulder while continuing to push my wrist farther up as well. I know she is trying to get me to tap but I won't because there are only ten seconds left. I try to counter the pressure but to no avail and as I watch the seconds tick down slowly, she continues to apply more and more pressure. I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out. 8…7…6…5…4 then I hear a loud pop and a tingling sensation in my fingertips. My wrist and hand erupts in pain just as the bell rings.

Jewel hears it to and immediately let's go and rolls off of me. She stands up and just looks down at me as I lay there for a few seconds before rolling over onto my stomach, where I lie face down for a few seconds. I begin trying to push myself up to a standing position. When Jewel sees me struggling, she leans over to help me up. Once I'm on my feet, I walk with my left wrist cradled to my body to where my team is waiting on me. Before I can take two steps, Clarke is by my side. I look at her and smile, "I think my wrist or hand is broken something popped and I have a tingling in my fingers. Do you think something is dislocated or something?"

She looks at me like I'm stupid and says, "Sit down!" She looks at my wrist and hand, then she starts pressing her fingers all around it and it hurts like hell, but I didn't let on "Lexa, I'm calling the fight, you're done!"

"What? No, I don't need it to win. I have my right hand and my feet. You can't call it, Clarke. I promise, I'm fine. O, Jose tell her."

"Lexa, without a doubt something is broken but I can't tell if it is your wrist or hand. Either way, it needs to be x-rayed."

"Please, Ya amar," I say and give her my best puppy dog eyes. She looks from me to O, then to Jose. They both nod their heads affirmatively.

She takes my hand in hers and starts to move my fingers around to see how bad it is, then looks at me, "I'm not going to lie this is going to hurt like hell and you aren't going to be able to move it much and definitely won't be able to punch with it…" Suddenly, she pulls my hand and my wrist pops loudly.

"FUCK!" I scream. The ref walks over and asks Clarke if I can continue the fight and she just nods.

He looks at the judges table and motioned for the doctor. He looks at me and says, "Our doctor has to look at you and confirm what yours says before you can continue."

Great, I think. I can't give them my puppy dog eyes and get them to agree. I walk over to where the doctor is standing. It's the same doctor that did my physical, she says, "How's the hand?"

"It's fine, just a little sore but I'm good to go." The doc takes my wrist and manipulates it then pokes around on my hand with her fingers. It hurts but I keep my face neutral.

The doc smiles and says, "Okay, looks like Clarke did a good job putting your wrist back in place. Now I need to look at that eye. Can you see out of it?"

"Yeah, it's fine. Come on doc let me finish the fight."

"Okay, I'm going to let you continue but, I can stop it at any time if I need too, just remember that."

"Thanks, doc. How did you…" She just looks at me with a look. She then motions the ref and says, "She is good to go for the final round."

He nods and tells me to go back to my corner. As I walk over there, I hear my full name being called and know that it can only be Ash. I look over there and she is shaking her head no. I just smirk and continue to walk to my corner and await the bell for the final round. Clarke, O, and Jose are already on the outside of the cage, but Jose says, "Lexa you need to finish this quickly. You know she is going to come out aiming for your left side. Do what you can to protect it and when she throws that front kick use the spinning elbow and then use your kicks and jabs to get her back to the cage. She will try and use the front kick to get some distance when she does if you can block it with your left and then perform the Meia Lua de Compasso. She won't be able to block it because she is against the cage and it should knock her out.

I nod just as the bell rings. I go out with my hands up like normal even though my hand and wrist is throbbing. Sure enough, she throws a high kick to my left shoulder and the pain radiates down to my hand and takes my breath away. I go down on one knee and she lands a massive right hook to my temple knocking me on my back. I hear the crowd take collective gasp. Luckily, Jewel hesitates for a second giving me time to get to my feet. I throw a hard inside leg kick to her lead leg that almost takes her off her feet. I use the momentum from the leg kick to spin around with a roundhouse high kick to her head that throws her into the cage.

When I go to close the distance instead of throwing the front kick like I am expecting, she jumps and throw a flying knee that misses my chin but hits my left shoulder instead and the vibration of the hit has me seeing spots and know that I'm about to pass out. I take a few deep breaths as I go down on one knee from the pain but I'm able to use a leg sweep and take her down before she can follow it up. I get up first and catch her with a knee to the forehead as she stands up opening a gash. This sends her back into the cage and she throws a right hook to my body that I instinctively block and regret it immediately as a jolt of pain goes to my wrist and is followed by a left hook to the face. I shake it off and throw a right jab to back her up and then a front kick of my own that lands heavy in her solo plexus knocking the wind out of her enough so that I can close the distance and catch her with another knee to the head as she is going down from the front kick.

She tries to grab my leg and take me down, but I quickly step out of it and I back up so that she can get up. I have no desire to get back on the ground with her. She gets up and throws a couple of lazy jabs that I dodge easily. Then she throws the front kick and I drop low and preform a Rasteira de Costa, which is a spinning back sweep kick that moves in a half circle with the sweeping leg aimed more for the ankle of the supporting leg. This once again takes her to the mat and I think about going after her while she is down, but I hear O scream no, so I back away and let her back up.

I glance at the clock and see that there are still three minutes left in the round. I'm not sure that I can last that long though, the pain is making me see spots. She gets up and comes at me fast with a combination of punches that I block and counter with a straight elbow to her face backing her up. She advances at me quickly again and I place my right hand down in a handstand, followed by a twist with the hips and a split, performing a downward kick. I miss her temple with the instep of my foot instead hitting her with my knee knocking her out instantly.

I stand back as the ref waves his hands signaling the fight is over. I raise my good hand, then run and jump straddling the top of the cage. The pain forgotten, I point at Ash and Asher stand up on the top of the cage and do a backflip off the top landing on my feet back in the cage where lips crash into mine as arms wrap around my neck. I know without a doubt they are Clarke's because of the electricity I feel as soon as they touch mine. The kiss was quick but full of passion. I reach down and grab her around the waist and pick her up. When I lift her up, she pulls back, and starts examining my face. I just smile then put her down and say, "That can wait till later." I'm suddenly lifted from behind by O and Jose. Looking down I say, "Put me down, I need to get Asher."

As soon as my feet hit the ground, I run jump the cage and I'm into the front row lifting Asher into a hug and then placing him on my shoulders. He is giggling uncontrollably as Ash brings me in for a hug followed by Callie kissing my cheek. The rest of the group started chanting Stryker and soon the entire arena was chanting my name. I was ushered back into the cage where O took Asher from my shoulders and placed him on the ground. He was so cute. He started raising his arms and jumping up and down and all I could think is I can't wait to have one of my own with Clarke! Then I think where the hell did that come from. There is just so much running through my head right now.

By this time, Jewel was up and, on her feet, talking to the doctor. I walked over to her and bowed before asking, "Are you alright?"

She smiled and said, "Well, my pride is hurt a little but that was a great fight. How is your hand?"

"Hurts like hell but I'll live." I give her a quick hug and then we move to the center of the cage for the final announcement.

We stand in the middle of the cage with Asher holding my left hand gingerly and the ref my right wrist. The announcer says, "The winner by TKO…. Lexa Stryker Trikru." The ref raises my hand, and the arena goes insane. I shake Jewel's hand and turn to look for Clarke, but I'm met by a camera and a microphone being shoved into my face.

Joe Rogen is the one with the microphone and he asks, "Stryker great fight! What is going through your head right now?"

"Too many things to think about. I guess the main thing is, I'm wondering where my beautiful girlfriend is right now. If it weren't for her and the rest of my team, I could have never won this fight."

Joe looks around and spots Cree in the crowd and motions for her to come up, but she shakes her head no. He looks at me and says, "I guess she doesn't want to come up. Oh well can you walk us through the knockout and explain the move you used."

"Sure, but first I need to clear something up. Clarke, where are you?" She looks at the ground turning red before walking into my outstretched arms. I whisper in her ear, "We are still doing this, right? You and me?" She looks me in the eyes and nods yes. I kiss her temple and then look back to Joe, "Joe, I'm not sure how it happened that everyone thinks that Cree Cicchino and I are dating. That could not be further from the truth. Cree and I are just friends. The only person that holds my heart is this one right here, Clarke Griffin." I look deeply into her beautiful green eyes and bring my hand up and run my thumb along her jaw. Clarke cups the back of my head as she leans in and brings her lips to mine. My heart races but at the same time there is a calmness that surrounds me telling me that I am exactly where I am supposed to be. An incredible feeling of contentment filled me as a fire begins to build in my soul. I feel Clarke sink into the kiss and slightly part her lips asking for more as my hands, now on Clarke's hips, pulled her closer. I oblige and slip my tongue inside and melt against her. The world fell away as I think I never want to kiss another person. I hear someone clearing their throat and I pull back, both of us breathing hard.

Joe looks at me surprised. I laugh and say, "Now let's take a look at that replay. As you can see Jewel begins to press forward with punches, but I catch her with an elbow to the forehead when she advances knocking her back a few steps. She then advances again, and I use a capoeira move taught to me by Jose over there, called the Aú Batido. It is like a one-handed cartwheel with a twist of the hips which is supposed to bring the instep of my foot to her temple but in this case, she was to close, and I hit her with my knee instead."

He says, "Well, it seems to have had a good outcome. I just want to say congratulations and thanks for taking this fight at the last minute and I know I hope to see you fight with us again. I'm sure Jewel will want a rematch in the future." The crowd erupts into chants of Stryker. Dana says, "I'll give you a few minutes in the locker room before sending in the doctor. How does it feel to beat the number four featherweight?"

I laugh, "I'm not sure, except that I love to win."