#Hawaiian MMA fighters

[conandaily2022]

Victoria Lee biography: 13 things about MMA fighter born in Waipahu, Hawaii

Victoria Lee biography: 13 things about MMA fighter born in Waipahu, Hawaii

Victoria Sun-hei Lee was a professional mixed martial artist from Hawaii, United States. Here are 13 more things about her: Victoria Lee

[ausetkmt]

Active Clubs: Will2Rise Sells Activewear to Fascist Brawlers – Rolling Stone

This Activewear Brand Wants to Be Lululemon for Fascists

Will2Rise is marketing “militant active wear” to white nationalist Active Clubs, which train members for street combat

Conservatives opposed to shopping at “woke” corporations have launched their own lines of pillows, piss beer, and mobile phone service. Now, unabashed white supremacists are setting up shop in this so-called parallel economy. 

Consider the fascist fashion house Will2Rise.

Will2Rise makes sports gear for white nationalists — including muscle-tees, track jackets, “militant active wear pants,” boxing gloves, and hoodies emblazoned with “Cultured Thug.” Leaving no doubt about its politics, the company’s gear is branded with stylized silhouette of a fasces — the ancient Roman symbol (consisting of a bundle of wood with a protruding ax head) later embraced by far-right Italian militants, spawning the term “fascist.”

The company specifically markets to members of Active Clubs, a global network of white supremacists who “tribe and train.” The members of these tight-knit local chapters pursue street-fighter fitness in advance of an anticipated race war, or other violent confrontation. Rather than the Hawaiian shirts and AK-47s that characterize extremists like the Boogaloo Bois, the Active Club aesthetic is gym-wear and mixed martial arts prowess. Will2Rise sells training hoodies and tight-fitting ringer tees labeled, “ACTIVE CLUB.”

Will2Rise is also playing the role of a corporate sponsor for white supremacy events. The company staged a second-annual MMA tournament this August, in a Huntington Beach warehouse decorated with white-power flags. Hosted by the SoCal Active Club, the contests featured fighter representatives from the Tennessee Active Club, Big Sky Active Club, Great Lakes Active Club, Evergreen Active Club, as well as from Patriot Front, another high-profile, white-nationalist group. Many of the fighters sported Will2Rise boxing gloves and other apparel. 

Think of the brand as Lululemon for white-power bros. The company touts its commitment to “bringing high-quality goods to Our guys.” Its white-power symbols are often coded. Many items for sale carry the Roman numeral XIV, or 14. For the neo-Nazi set, that’s a reference to the “14 words,” a dark oath about securing “the existence of our people and a future for white children.” A video montage on the slick Will2Rise homepage is more explicit. It flashes the words “white youth revolt,” “white unity,” and the slogan “action today, victory tomorrow.”

The company’s whites-only ethos extends to what Will2Rise dubiously labels its “Ethical Supply Chain” — with products exclusively “made in Eastern Europe, so not a single hand touches the production that is not of like mind.” The copy continues: “We keep Our people employed and keep all funds within our ranks.” The company takes Visa, MasterCard, Paypal, and Stripe.

https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Will2Shop-screenshot-shop.jpg?w=1024

Will2Rise represents an attempt to monetize the Active Club movement by the same folks who founded it. Active Clubs are the brainchild of Robert Rundo, a white nationalist from Orange County, California. Rundo previously led a street-fighting group called the Rise Above Movement, whose brawlers made a practice of roughing up antifa at social justice protests. Federal prosecutors have described RAM as “a combat-ready, militant group” that’s part of a “new nationalist white supremacy and identity movement.”

Rundo was indicted on federal charges of “conspiracy to riot” in 2019 stemming from RAM actions in Huntington Beach, Berkeley, and San Bernardino. The charges were dropped for a time but reinstated in 2021 after an appellate process ruled that the charging statute is constitutional. However, Rundo eluded capture, decamping to Eastern Europe where he continued to organize around his violent brand of white supremacy — including morphing RAM into a decentralized network of Active Clubs.

The Active Club movement is growing exponentially. A new report by the nonprofit Counter Extremism Project, reveals that there are at least 46 active clubs across 34 states in the U.S. The “transnational” network also has chapters in 15 countries, including Canada, and across Europe, with 23 chapters in France alone. 

Alexander Ritzmann, who conducted the CEP research, describes the groups as “trying to build a militia” in plain sight. They foreground a broad ideology of “white unity” — both to prevent infighting and to appear less threatening to law enforcement. The exact purpose of the fight-training remains ambiguous, but Ritzmann insists this is on purpose, following the philosophy that a violent white supremist movement needs more “fighters than thinkers.” The endgame, he warns, is for these Active Clubs to be the tip of the fascist spear when the next “Day X” — think: a redux of a Jan. 6 — requires the services of a fighting force: “It’s about building that militia for the day a leader shows up … that needs some sort of army.”

Rundo was also “a driving force in the creation” of the Will2Rise clothing brand, according to the CEP report. The Southern Poverty Law Center recently included Will2Rise among entities it labels “white nationalist hate groups.” The shop serves many purposes: reinforcing the public-facing aesthetics of the Active Club movement, raising money, and aiding in recruitment. According to Ritzmann’s research, the shop gets about 10,000 visits a month, with visits lasting about 15 minutes, “indicating shopping.”

Rundo’s life on the lam in Europe came to a halt this year. The 33-year-old was collared in Romania in March, and his extradition to the United States was announced Aug. 2. He has pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy to riot charges, and is expected to go to trial in December. 

Not surprising, Rundo has become a cause célèbre in extremist circles — especially for Will2Rise. A banner at the top of its website demands “Free Rob Rundo.” The company is also selling Shepard Fairey-esque art posters reading “FREE RUNDO,” and is even raffling off a wood carving of its fasces logo, fashioned by supporters at the “Austrian Art Academy.”

Following his vision, the groups Rundo set in motion are continuing to act without him — including by holding the Huntington Beach MMA fights. Extremism experts insist this is in keeping with the leaderless “open franchise” model promoted by Active Clubs, but note that SoCal Active Club has been effectively stewarding the movement in Rundo’s absence.

Will2Rise has not responded to an email request for information on its business, revenue, and profits. The company lists its address as a P.O. box in Virginia. It also features a non-working telephone number with a Georgia area code and one too many digits — ending in 88. That number is often used by white supremacists as a numerical correspondence to the letters HH, short for Heil Hitler.

[mmagoats]

MMA GOATS - Blog 3

The list of 9th tier fighters, dissimilar to the last, are here because I feel there skills are higher than the fighters from the last tier and equally have great peaks. Both being competitors in the UFC during the same era and even considers a type of rival, with one that I think stands out over the other.

Matt Hughes 

The first fighter on the 9th tier of my top goat list is Matt Huges, a spot well deserved for his legendary status given by people in the scene and long time viewers of the sport for his achievements and championship run that proved for most people that he was the pound for pound fighter of the UFC during his time. But because didn’t grow up in that era I don’t see that goat champion who deserves to be number 1 that other’s might see, I see more a fighter who got greatness but couldn’t stand out on my eyes.

Born October 13, 1973 and raised in Illinois, his greatness was just beginning to flourish when he started wrestling and playing football all throughout high school, ending up as double champion after going undefeated with a record of 131-2-0 in the 145 pound division. He attended colleges in Illinois as he continued wrestling, staying at the top of his division while racking up wins. His wrestling brought him to MMA in 1998, debuting in JKD Challenge and establishing his signature move of slams, later fighting in other areas like Extreme Challenge before finally getting into the UFC coming off outstanding winstreaks and continuing that pattern. In 2001, Matt Hughes became in my opinion the first great welterweight champion and went on to defend his title against fighters in the welterweight division until he lost the belt to BJ Penn, but the loss marked the start to his rise that gave him his goat tier ranking and stardom. He beat an early GSP, Royce Gracie and BJ Penn in their rematch in hard fought battles that defined this highest peak. In the end, his career ended like most others, with losses due to newer fighters, newer times and a handful of injuries.

In my opinion, he deserves this spot because of what he started in the welterweight division, how he went on to be a great champion for his time and how he bested fighters I see as formidable opponent. You shouldn’t base greatness on his lowest, but on what he achieved while he was in it. I see a great fighter who excelled and made moves for his time sure, but only stood out enough to be under the next fighter. So, I place Matt Hughes here not because I like or have an interest in him, but respect what he has done.

BJ Penn 

The reason why Matt Hughes is not at the top of the 9th tier of my goat list and the physical manifestation of his ancient Hawaiian warrior ancestors, B.J Penn is a hall of famer in the UFC and a legend to the sport. In my opinion, what puts him in this tier is his sheer relentlessness and his lack of fear in the octagon which brought him to claim great feats in his time fighting in MMA, something I find to be so cool and inspires me to do better.

He began his career at the age of 17 when his neighbor introduced and trained him in brazilian jiu-jitsu before going on to train further at the Ralph Gracie BBJ academy because of the lack of quality and renown gyms. In 2000, B.J Penn became the first non-brazilian to win the black belt division world jiu-jitsu championship and prior, got his legitimate black belt in just a little over three years; thought to be the fastest. He stepped into the octagon, steadily climbing up the ranks before his title shot and first of three fights against a 35-3 Matt Hughes himself who was the clear favorite, in which he won and claimed the belt. Afterwards when he went into K-1, he fought against a heavyweight Lyoto Machidam, something that I think makes him seem crazy or fearless, or maybe both. In his last great stretch he fought a prime GSP and Matt Hughes, not winning but showing how persistent he can be, then dropping down to his natural weight class of lightweight where he claimed and defended the belt 3 times, Not to mention his third fight with Matt Hughes where he won their trilogy. So overall I think, with a record of 16 wins, 14 losses and 2 draws, (a record who may look average) his carrer was something special because he kept fighting for 10 years despite defeat and because of his highest moments he was able to reach. I think what I most like about BJ is that you can see a great fighter even though he lost so much more then other fighters in this list, he still proved himself and he came to terms with that, something I hope I can find in my future.

[heylinfanclub]

Thinkin bout human designs for my clancats….

Meadowfleck all the bombshell sexy on top of a rather sedentary, weird old lady. Tank top only got one strap up. Always sittin with her legs wide open. Short dark hair and def fuck shaving. Butch doctor lady with a heart of gold. Kinda older lady who goes ‘HOO!’ when she has to stand up or twitches. How do make a fat but muscular—- old lady arms (it’s gotta be extra droopy,, wings on an annggellll). Cause she had the power to fireman carry people to the healin table.

Dawnstar bleached hair icon. I know she’s brown, I KNOW IT (cause her code describes her skin as brown I couldn’t take that AWAY). But I gotta learn to draw braids. SKINNIER. So I can make MORE. cause she’d still have multiple braids. But probably even more with humanization. Pick a tribe for her at that, cause like all my MCs, reflective of my native heritage. Probably mixed like me but closer to her heritage than 2 generations out (my grandma full, my mom half, me a quarter, and me generally distanced from all the culture where my ma and grandma lived on rez). She’s muscular like a professional MMA fighter. She’s spiritually faithful and likely reps symbols of her faith. She’s a leader and takes this seriously, standing tall and looking INTENSE, dressed prim and proper (looks stifling on her muscles). But she’s still a nervous nelly who has panic attacks and needs Meadows hugssss.

Sandydash sunburnt red head babygirl. Rainbowdash but Element of Kindness. Confident but selfless (to the point of neglecting herself). Beach shorts, Hawaiian shirt, tube top, track shoes and long socks. Weird reverse farmers tan (from fishing), pale hands and legs (from boots and gloves), tanned down the middle, pale again where the swim suit often blocks. All natural stripes. Missin a tooth, looks a bit scuffed. She grew up homeless.

[loneshark18]

Feather weight champ - Max "Blessed" Holloway. #blessed #bless #maxholloway #hawaii #hawaiian #fighter #ufc #ufcfighter #mmafighter #mma #conormcgregor #khabib #graphicdesign #posterdesign #digitalart https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsi8QKMjTD8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1hgbmujeewiam

[marshmallow-phd]

Open Wounds

Genre: Boxing!AU

Pairing: Yixing x Reader

Summary: You practically lived at the fighter gym, taking your anger and frustration out on the punching bags as a form of personal torture. Because you also hated that place for taking away the person you loved most. But when a new trainee shows up, showing that he’s different from the boxers you’ve met in the past, your wall begins to crumble. But is history doomed to repeat itself?

Netflix Teaser 

Part One I Part Two

**

The sound of skin hitting worn vinyl and the grunts and groans of grown men trying to beat each other up surrounded you. No matter how high you turned the volume up on your headphones, you couldn’t drown out the distractions. You hated this place. You shouldn’t be here. Over and over again, you told yourself to leave and never come back. When you were covered in sweat and your muscles were sore, crying out for relief, the first part was easy enough to do. It was that damn second step that was impossible.

“Now, what did that poor bag do to you?”

Taking one last swing at the punching bag, hard enough to put some momentum in its swing on the rusty chain, you turned around to face the only person who dared approach you while you were attacking the defenseless bag of sand and pulled out your headphones to hear better.

Han, the old man who owned the gym, smiled at you with wrinkled, sun-weathered eyes. He was still wearing those ugly Hawaiian shirts over baggy khaki shorts after all these years. But despite his appearance, he could still move around and jab like any of the middle-weight boxers around here. You’d known him for years - since you were a teenager – which meant he knew exactly what the punching bag had done to you.

Deciding you’d had enough for today, you started unstrapping the Velcro of your gloves, your hands breathing in relief at the release. “Hey, Han.”

“Tough day?” he guessed.

You sighed. “Tough week.” More like a tough life.

In all honesty, it probably wasn’t that rough. You had a roof over your head, heating in the winter, air conditioning in the summer, food, a bed, a job that you thrived in. Really there was only one dark cloud hovering in your otherwise ordinary sky. A blank spot in your life that could never be filled no matter where you searched for a substitute.

“I’m sure things will get better,” Han said encouragingly. “They always do.”

“No, they don’t.” There were too many examples in the history of the world to list of where things did not eventually get better.

Han huffed at you. “If you keep that up, I’ll ban you from my gym.”

You smirked. “You could never ban me, Han. You love me too much.”

He started to grumble out something along the lines of “watch me” but he couldn’t hold on to the façade and soon he was smiling at you. “Are you going to join us tonight for dinner? There’s a new recruit that joined a while back and you know the boys. They have to initiate. He’s very promising, could be the new lightweight champion. Reminds me of-” Han caught himself before he mentioned one of his old students. The one that brought you pain, the one that brought you here over and over again, never letting you go. Coughing to cover his slipup, he went on, “Well, anyway, I’m sure the boys would love it if you tagged along.”

“No, I think I’ll skip on it,” you said non-too-surprisingly. You never joined in, but that didn’t stop Han form offering, hoping one day you would change your mind, like how you used to. “Thank you, though. I’ll see you around.”

Han nodded, understanding completely. You kissed the old man on the cheek before gathering up your things and heading for the showers.

Once cleaned and refreshed, you weaved through the boxers and MMA fighters training for their next big fight before making it to the front entrance. As you pushed on the door to exit, someone called out for you.

“Hey, wait!”

Rolling your eyes, you turned around to what this person wanted. Most of the boys here knew to leave you alone. Only the ones who’d known you for years would stop and talk to you, but they knew better than to try to chat when you were trying to leave.

The man didn’t seem familiar at all as he jogged up to you, careful to avoid a weight that had rolled into his path.

“What?” you snapped. You’d been here too long and you needed to get out, not be chatted up by some brave newcomer who thought it’d be fun to hit on the only female within this testosterone factory.

The man bowed his head sheepishly, his cheeks taking on the slight hue of pink. In his outstretched hand was a worn red glove that had certainly seen better days. You snatched the glove out of his hand, not out of maliciousness, but out of a rush of relief. If you’d lost that glove….

“Thank you,” you said gratefully as you secured the glove back into its normal pocket. “Sorry about… being rude.”

He smiled at you. “It’s okay. Although, I thought exercising was supposed to make people happier?”

“Depends on the environment,” you countered. That was probably a lie. The chance of your body deciding on how much endorphins to release based on where you were exercising seemed slim. But maybe you would be a bit more cheerful if you worked out at one of the bigger chain gyms than this small training facility.

“Understandable,” he nodded, thinking that you were making a joke, based on the smile he was giving you. He held out his hand, “I’m Yixing, by the way.”

You looked down at his hand for a few seconds, not sure of what to do. Yes, you knew the social norm was to take his hand and introduce yourself as well, but you tried to avoid any interactions with the boxers that you weren’t already friends with before….

Sighing, you stuffed your hand in your pocket. “Nice to meet you, Yixing.”

And that was it. No handshake, no giving of your own name. You simply turned on your heels and left the gym, not looking back as you reached your bike, throwing one leg over the seat and slamming your helmet on before taking off down the road, putting as much distance between you and the gym as possible.

**

Yixing stood there, dumbfounded. Had he done or said something wrong?

“Don’t take that too much to heart,” Han sighed as he came up and clapped Yixing on the shoulder from behind. “Poor thing had it rough a few years back. Put a wall up after that. (y/n) only tolerates a few of the guys here and that’s more out of respect since she’s known them for so long.”

Yixing frowned, watching as you peeled out of the parking lot on an old motorcycle. “Did something bad happen to her?”

The distrust and the avoidance of physical contact coupled with her working out in a gym designed for fight training… the picture made Yixing’s stomach churn.

Han seemed to know where his thoughts were headed. “No, nothing like that. She just lost someone close to her.”

A strange relief washed over Yixing before the guilt set in. You’d still lost someone you cared about. How close the two of you must have been….

“Come on,” Han ordered as he slapped Yixing’s shoulder again. “You’ve got more jabs to throw before you can leave. Also, it’s your turn to clean the mats.”

Yixing cringed, but laughed nonetheless. “It’s always my turn to clean the mats.”

“That’s what you get for being the newbie, kid.”

Yixing shook his head. He knew all this work would pay off in the end. Every fighter had to pay their dues before stepping into the ring. And someday, he’d be the king.

**

You clutched the stencil steady as you carefully drew the brush over the slick surface of the gas tank. No air escaped your lungs while you kept yourself still, afraid that even the slightest breath could knock everything off course. The line needed to be perfect or else you’d have to start all over. And get lectured for wasting expensive paint.

As soon as the line was completed, you refilled your lungs with fresh air, sitting up and loosening up your shoulders.

“Nice work, kid,” Don commented as he inspected the paint job over your shoulder. “Line work’s getting better.”

“Thanks,” you smirked proudly. These days, it was the only thing that made you really happy. Putting a brush in your hand and letting the image in your head come to light on the polished metal for the world to see was the best job you could have ever asked for.

You weren’t sure exactly how you ended up in the garage. Art had always been a major part of your life and identity, with faint dreams of entering the institute for your degree. Your brother swore up and down that your works would be displayed in museums one day. Back then you’d laughed at him, called him crazy. And maybe he was.

Even now you still loved to paint and draw on canvas, creating your own worlds with a few simple ingredients. But those works stayed in your apartment, away from the public eye. The images you made on motorcycles and car hoods were the only ones allowed to be seen. You were more comfortable that way. This world of gears and grease was one you knew all too well, even if working here hadn’t been the plan. Being here made a little more sense than being the dressed up featured artist being adored by patrons with large checkbooks, anyway.

Well, the checkbook part sounded nice.

“I think I’m going to finish this one and head home,” you told Don. It was getting late and your hand was beginning to cramp.

“Sounds good,” Don nodded. “And you’re coming in late tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’m going to hit the gym first,” you said, turning around on your stool. You had skipped out on your personal torture yesterday and today, so it was time for a recharge. Plus, tomorrow was Han’s birthday. If you didn’t at least stop by and see him, you’d never hear the end of it.

“Alright, sounds good. Have a goodnight.”

You waved to Don as he walked away. “Good night.”

When you were alone again, you stretched out your hand and got back to the next set of lines to finish out the tank in peace.

 The next morning you went about your normal routine, fixing that too-sugary cup of coffee and yanking on paint splattered clothes before throwing your gym back over your shoulder and heading out the door.

At the gym, Han was already there in his usual spot by the main ring a few hours early, leaning on the ropes from the floor while yelling out punches and jabs at the trainee who was up on the platform working with Jack. You didn’t want to be, but you were actually impressed by the speed of the trainee’s hands. They were nothing but blurs, following Han’s barking orders without hesitation. Mesmerized, you stood a little ways away, arms crossed over your chest as you watched the session.

Han noticed you after a few minutes and brought the training to a halt. “Alright, get some water you two. We’ll pick it back up in fifteen minutes or so.”

The trainee took off his protective gear, revealing his identity to be Yixing from the other day. He must be the one Han was gushing about. His next golden boy.

Pulling a thin rectangular present from your bag, you held it out to Han as you approached him. “Happy birthday, big guy.”

Han smiled broadly as he took the gift. “(y/n), if this is what I think it is, you’re going to make an old man cry.”

“That’s my goal in life,” you teased. To your relief, he didn’t open it right away. You hadn’t expected an audience to be around when you gave the present over. Things like this you preferred to be kept private. Usually, Han spent his mornings watching old fight reels, studying the different methods or just reliving his old glory days in the ring. If he was skipping out on that tradition to train this guy… he must really be something.

“So, how are you doing lately?” Han asked.

You shrugged. “I’m fine. Things are going good at shop. I’ve got a lot of projects going so there’s plenty to keep me occupied.”

“Good, good,” he nodded. “Are you still making time for your own work, though?”

You scoffed, pointing to the gift. “What do you think that is?”

“I know what it is,” Han grumbled. “But you also know what I mean. Your own work deserves attention, too.”

“Look, between here and the shop, home is where my hands get a rest.”

Han raised an eyebrow, no hint of playfulness in his eyes. “Then maybe I should ban you from my gym.”

Your jaw dropped. “Han, are you serious-”

“Is everything okay?”

You sent a death glare towards Yixing that he probably didn’t deserve. It was just instinct. Your connection was being threatened and that put you on edge.

“Everything’s fine,” Han chuckled, showing you that he wasn’t serious after all. You relaxed a bit, but now you really needed to hit something.

“I’m going to go change,” you mumbled. Swiping you gym bag back up from the floor, you headed for the locker room.

When you came back, Han and Jack were gone. The former had most likely retreated to his office to hide from your wrath. Jack probably had some errands to run during his short break and Yixing didn’t seem to be sticking around, leaving the gym mostly empty for you to go about your business. As you wrapped up your hands, however, you learned that you weren’t completely alone after all.

“Need a sparring partner?” Yixing offered, wiggling the punching pads at you when you looked up from your seat on the bench.

You shook your head. “I kind of want to be the one throwing the punches right now.” You weren’t here to just be his target.

“That’s what I meant,” he chuckled. He slipped the sparring equipment over his hands and walked back up to the ring, easily stepping up and through the ropes before stopping in the middle of the platform.

Fine. He wanted to be the punching bag, let him.

Sighing, you stood up to your feet and headed on over, ready for him.

“I won’t go easy on you,” he warned.

“If you did, I’d have to kick your butt,” you taunted. The giggle he let out took you off guard. Then the smile slipped away to make room for a hardened glare and he started barking orders at you in a tone that rivaled Han’s.

“Cross! Jab! Hook!”

Over and over again, he shouted out combinations almost too fast for you to keep up. Every few punches, he’d swing out on his own, making you duck. It didn’t take long for you to be covered in a sheet of sweat, breaths coming out short and raggedy as you fought to keep going. Too soon, though, your arms grew weak. You threw in a few more punches before stepping back, giving in.

“You’re good,” Yixing complimented. He unstrapped the gloves from his hands, tossing them down on the canvas out of the way. “Do you want to get something to eat?”

Well, that didn’t take long. You rolled your eyes. “Just because I work out at this gym doesn’t mean I want to date a boxer, okay?”

Yixing knitted his eyebrows, confused. “I wasn’t asking for a date. I’m hungry and I don’t like eating alone.”

That made you stop and reconsider. Because even though you did it every day, you, too, hated eating alone. It was too quiet. It gave you too much time in your head.

“Okay, then,” you nodded. ��I’m going to go change real quick.”

“I’ll meet you at the door.”

You threw him a lazy thumbs up before jogging out of there. Even though your morning workout was cut short, you were slightly thankful for the change up in your routine. Besides, he seemed nice and – boxer or not – you could use a new friend.

Part of you worried if you were being more open to him because he reminded you of- no. They were very different. He didn’t giggle, among other things.

You didn’t bother to shower since you weren’t trying to impress anyone, just slipping back into your knotted up t-shirt and jeans before throwing your bomber on and heading out of the locker room.

Yixing was already at the front door, awaiting patiently for you. He’d somehow managed to change faster than you, now sporting skinny jeans and a matching black shirt. For a very, very brief moment, it’d thrown you off guard. You’d grown used to ignoring anyone in athletic gear, immune to what it was supposed to be showing off. But seeing the new fighter in streetwear was making your head spin. The hardened concentrated look was long gone, softening his features to be more open and inviting. Before you could fight it, the corners of your lips were turning up.

“Ready?” he asked. You nodded and followed him out the front door and to his car.

It was a short drive to the little breakfast dinner, only a few blocks away but you’d never noticed it before. Yixing seemed to be a frequent visitor given the friendly waves from both the wait staff and the cooks visible through the kitchen window.

The first few minutes were spent in silence while the two of you mulled over the menus provided at the table. After the waitress took your orders, you played with the pink sugar packet, flipping it back and forth to occupy your attention. You hadn’t been in a situation like this for a long time so you weren’t sure how to proceed.

“Have you been going to the gym for a long time?” Yixing asked, breaking the silence.

You nodded. “Yeah, since I was a teenager.”

“But you don’t train to fight?” he guessed.

“No, I don’t,” you half laughed. “Fighting was never my thing. That was-” you caught yourself just in time. “No, I would just go to hang out with friends who were more into the boxing thing. I liked the workout better than others, so it just stuck.”

“And you know Han pretty well.”

You snorted. That crazy old man had been a huge part of your life. He was there for you when you were alone and basically gave you a second home to run to. But you didn’t need to voice that out loud. “Yeah. He has a soft spot for me, I guess.”

Yixing smiled crookedly, revealing a dimple in his cheek that just softened his features even more. “He doesn’t seem to hand those out very easily.”

“No, it takes a lot of buttering up,” you agreed. “If you’re training under him and he sees potential in you, you’ll never get that treatment.”

“You seem to speak from experience,” he pointed out.

The waitress arrived then with the large plates of food. You immediately dug in, much hungrier than you realized. Plus, it gave you an excuse not to continue the conversation. The hot-off-the-grill meat tasted savory in your mouth and for a few minutes, you forgot that you were sitting across from someone.

“So, what do you do for a living if you’re not a boxer?” Yixing asked suddenly.

You swallowed the food in your mouth and washed it down with a few sips of water before replying, “I work in a customs shop. I do the detail painting and sketch ups.”

“So you’re an artist?” he dug, excitement flashing in his eyes.

“Uh, yeah, kind of.” Shyness, while not a typical character trait of yours, was making you shrink over your food. Being called an “artist” was making you feel awkward.

Putting his fork down, Yixing folded his arms on the table and leaned forward. “Did you do the work on your motorcycle?”

“Yeah, I did.” Your cheeks were heating up. What was going on? You never reacted like this.

“The line work is really incredible.” Sincerity – not flattery – was more than apparent in his tone. “I noticed it a few times while coming in, but I could never figure out who it belonged to until I saw you drive away on it a few days ago. You have real talent.”

Now you couldn’t even lift your own fork. “Thank you.”

“Did you paint something for Han?”

You cleared your throat, unsure of how to answer. A reply of simply “yes” should have been easy enough. But once buried memories bombarded your inner thoughts.

You’re amazing and someday they’ll put you in the Louvre.

I wish you would stop lying like that.

I’m not! You’ll be this world famous artist and I’ll be the Lightweight Champion across the globe. You can’t paint everywhere I go to fight. We’ll be the greatest team the world has ever seen.

Sure. If that happens, then I’ll paint myself green and dance in the gym.

Deal.

“(y/n)?”

You jumped, pulled from the fuzzy memory. “Sorry?”

“Is everything okay?” Yixing’s face was pinched with worry. Somehow you’d even missed the waitress dropping off the check. He was already signing off the receipt and putting his card away.

“Peachy,” you nodded. Changing the subject, you frowned, “You didn’t have to pay for my meal.”

He waved your protest away. “It’s not a problem. Maybe you can get the next one?”

You knew what he was doing, opening up the conversation of another meal together without outright asking. This wasn’t a date, he said it himself, but it appeared he might want to change that in the near future. And honestly, you weren’t as against it as you thought you might be. Even though he was bring up memories you’d locked away, you found his presence… soothing the hurt rather than multiplying it.

“Sure,” you smiled. “I’ll get the next one.”

Now he was the shy one as he ducked his head. “Good.” Composing himself once again, he stood up. “Let’s go. I have to get back to the gym or else Han will have me on double cleaning duty.”

“That would terrible,” you agreed with a laugh. You weren’t sure the last time you felt this relaxed with a person, this open. It was a scary feeling, but one you were more than willing to further explore.

**

Yxing watched you speed away on your bike, a smile stretch widely across his lips. You’d promised to have dinner with in a few days and he was on cloud nine. This time, he was able to declare it officially a date before you headed off to work.

Each step he took to head back inside the gym was light and cheery, practically skipping as he headed for Han’s office.

“I’m back,” Yixing announced as he stuck his head in, finding Han staring intently at the small TV he used for fight reviews.

“About time,” Han grumbled. He didn’t pause the TV or look away. “If you weren’t out with (y/n), I’d be making you do suicide runs until you threw up for skipping out on training.”

Surprised, Yixing came all the way inside the office. He’d fully expected to get the third degree, declaring to himself that the short meal with you was worth it. You’d intrigued him when he first saw you. No one was willing to explain who you were or why you came to the gym and left without interacting with anyone. Everyone else seemed to just know already, but refused to let him in on it. “Why do you say that?”

Finally pausing the TV, Han sighed. His eyes drifted over to a painting that was leaning up against the large window that gave him access to the open gym space. It was new, something Yixing hadn’t seen before. That must have been your present you’d given him earlier.

The colors were beautiful. Everything blended in with the fake light that gave it a touch of hyperrealism. A fighter’s robe made of shiny green silk laid across a short wooden stool in the corner of a boxing ring. With the folds of the robe, he couldn’t make out the name embroidered on the back, just bits and pieces of the silver letters.

“She’s a good kid,” Han sighed again. “Watched her grow up within these walls. She painted the murals in both of the locker rooms in high school. She was happier back then, livelier. If she wasn’t here with her friends, she was at home with her dad, helping him on his side business fixing up cars, making them beautiful again. She always needed to be creating something. Then she lost that spark.”

Thinking back to the diner, Yixing could see that clearly. You were fighting to hold back something when he complimented you on your work, like you were embarrassed and didn’t want to talk about it. Then your eyes lost focus because what he could only assume was a memory coming back to the surface. Treading carefully, he asked, “What happened?”

Han pointed to the fighter on the small screen. “Him. She lost him.”

Yixing’s eyes widen. Because he knew who that was. And the more he stared at the footage flickering on the TV, the more his heart sunk. Because he knew this fight.

He was there the night that fighter died.

[lycorogue]

Meet My OCs: Lia (Part 1 - Background)

I’m so good at these self-imposed deadlines, aren’t I? Sorry about that. The weeks got away from me between trying to finish a book read before its return to the library, getting my monthly fiction writing up, prepping for Camp NaNoWriMo, socializing, Zumba classes, and a solid week of working without a day off before taking the weekend to visit family. Adding in “research Lia and type up her intro” sort of slid to the back burner. Which means I only have one post to introduce her today; the rest will come throughout the week.

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Lia was the first character I created for X-Future. She was SUPPOSED to be this flirty, rebellious, trying-out-independence teenager. She had potentially volatile powers, and I wanted to see how much damage I could make Lia cause. Basically, she was supposed to be Willow mixed with Trish....

After a week or two of player her, however, it was clear that she didn't want to be any of those things; namely flirty, rebellious, and reckless/cocky with her powers. Sure, her powers were still hard for her to manage, but they usually only got out of control whenever she was angry. Keeping her anger in check meant she became much more mild-mannered, shy, reserved, and maternal. So, I took on Willow to be everything I originally wanted to role play as Lia, and let my original X-Future gal do her own thing. Sadly, Willow, being what I initially wanted to play, soon overcame Lia as my main character on X-Future, but I tried to still keep Lia fairly active. Mostly for more angst-driven sub-plots... Poor Lia...

To find out more about her, check below the break.

I'll try to have Part 2 up tomorrow night in order to better discuss Lia's main relationships. Part 3 will then explain her story line within X-Future, and how it relates to my plan for her in Glitches. Then Part 4 will have more artwork showcasing Lia, Part 5 will have some story samples to better showcase Lia's dialect and personality, and Part 6 will have more of those cheesy WWE13 custom wrestler entrances. 

So I can get started on both my Camp NaNoWriMo project, as well as the next character I wish to introduce – Trish – I'm hoping to have most (if not all) of the other parts of Meet Lia up by Tuesday evening.

Anyway, as mentioned above, Lia's main introduction overview is below. Enjoy!

Overview:

Amelia “Lia” Joan Mordeaux (Madrox on X-Future) was a month shy of turning 15 when we first started playing – roughly 14years and 8months old when sent to the Xavier Institute – and is now just over 18 years old. She's the same height as Willow (5'4” {162.56cm}), which is probably because I'm 5'3” (160.02cm)... and that extra inch is important! Lia also has a fairly lean body, although hers is significantly more pear-shaped than Willow's. Compared to Willow, Lia has a more muscular appearance with thicker upper arms, more defined legs, and more pronounced abs. Since she feels she's constantly failing her friends/classmates/the X-Men (Glitches counterpart to 'X-Men' still needs to be named... Guardians, maybe?), Lia is constantly training to improve herself, and that includes muscle training, self-defense training, and generic hand-to-hand combat training. I'm still deciding if I want her to be some sort of novice MMA fighter. Krav Maga just seems so over-used in media right now though, so her fighting style of choice is TBD, but I'm thinking generic kickboxing is a good start. She also loves to dance, practicing a few hula, hip-hop, and Zumba routines she studied via YouTube (or a Glitches equivalent I need to come up with).

Lia, as I mentioned above, is fairly maternal, usually putting a lot of unneeded pressure on herself to protect her friends and fellow classmates. Regardless of if she's at fault – or, in truth, even in the area – if one of her friends gets hurt, she feels it's a major failure on her part. She also has a bit of an inferiority complex, constantly comparing herself to her “famous” mother (I'll talk about this more in the relationships section of Part 2). Lia is also fairly meek and tries to shy away from confrontation as much as possible. Part of this is because she's a people-pleaser, part of it is because she's fairly empathetic and would much rather try to get everyone to see things from a unified perspective, and part of it is because she fears getting angry and losing control of her powers. Because of the empathy, meekness, and maternal nature, she is the unofficial Welcoming Committee at the Institute; usually offering to escort new students/recruits around the grounds, introduce them to their fellow students, and be the recruit's main companion until they find more friends of their own.

Being a people-pleaser, meek, and constantly questioning her value as a superhero, also means she can be taken advantage of, and she puts way too much pressure on herself. For an example, please see story sample “Check the Ego” at the end of Meet Willow: Part 5 (Stories).

Further Physical Description:

Lia, in X-Future, is half-Brazilian and half-whateverCaucasionEthnicitiesJamieMadroxIs. In Glitches, however, Lia is half-Hawaiian and half-Caucasian (mostly French, but with some Welsh and Norwegian as well). Her skin-tone is a darker tan that resembles her mother's complexion more than her father's. She has deep brunette hair, and she dyes fiery-orange streaks through the underside of it; making the streaks hidden whenever her hair is down, which it usually is. When she's nervous/anxious/overly-excited, she tends to play with the locks of orange. Her hair is bone-straight, and she tends to wear it fairly long, such as mid-back. She also used to keep it tied up, but she would literally burn through the ties and melt the clips, so she rarely does anything with her hair anymore. As for her eyes, they are a honey-brown with a bit of an orange tint to them. They actually appear to have a flame-like flicker to them if one is truly looking.

Family:

Lia's mother in X-Future is the lava-controlling mutant Amara “Magma” Aquilla, and her father is the duplicate-creating mutant James “Multiple Man” Madrox. For Glitches, Lia's mother Keahi still has control of lava and other such things, which I'll get into when I introduce her, and Lia's father Cody Mordeaux is still capable of creating duplicates, but in a slightly different manner. Again, I'll discuss further when I introduce them.

For X-Future, Amara and Jamie met as kids when they became students of the Xavier Institute. We aren't given any canonical ages for them in X-Men: Evolution, but Jamie was definitely the youngest, and looked like he was about 12, maybe as old as 14 by the end of the series. Amara was older, but probably not by much. She went to the high school with the original X-Men clan – probably as a freshman – so she was probably about 13 or 14 when she first appeared on the show; maybe 15 or 16 at the end of the series.

Anyway, using the show as our own canon, Jamie was clumsy, and Amara was very unsure of herself. They were quite the pair. After years of working together, they grew to become confident in their abilities, as well as became close friends. They started dating in their early 20s; Jamie asking Amara to Scott and Jean's wedding. After years of dating, the duo finally married when they were about 30, and retired from being X-Men. They settled into a nice home on Long Island, NY, and started their family.

For Glitches, Cody had gone to college in Hawaii, and met Keahi there. She was still struggling with a lot of anti-glitch sentimentality. Her fire-orange eyes gave her away as a glitch, plus a lot of locals knew of her powers, especially when she used them to help safely remove pressure from the Hawaiian volcanoes without ash and/or lava destroying the near-by towns. People feared the power she wielded, and waited for her to “snap” and destroy them via the volcanoes instead of rescue them from the natural disasters. While Keahi could easily go to college someplace that didn't know she was a glitch, she purposely stayed to fight for equal rights. This passion and activism really attracted Cody, meanwhile his kindness and supportive nature were what made Keahi fall for him. Shortly after college, they got married and moved to the Main Land (California). Soon – I'm not quite sure yet on the details as to how – Cody and Keahi learned about Emily's orphanage/boarding school, and how she was fighting for equality between Humans and Glitches (Emily believed glitches should take ownership of the name). They moved across country in order to help assist Emily and Ryder, but they still kept their lives separate from the school itself. They mostly focused on helping Emily and Ryder find young glitches that needed help; recruiting them to Emily's sanctuary. Eventually, Keahi had Lia, and the couple's involvement with the school waned as they focused on their daughter.

I don't recall the reasoning I had for Lia's full name to be Amelia, but she was given the middle name Joan after Jamie's mother: Joan Madrox. I think I'm going to keep it as Cody's mother's name as well so Lia can keep her canonical middle name.

Anyway, in both X-Future and Glitches, Amara/Keahi went MIA while on an ecological mission to help curb a series of natural disasters after volcanoes (in Brazil for X-Future; along the Ring of Fire in Glitches) started erupting at an alarming rate. Leaving 7-year-old Lia in the charge of one of his duplicates, Jamie/Cody spent a little over a month personally searching for his wife. He only gave up on the search when the pain of not holding his daughter became too great. Each year, on the anniversary of Amara/Keahi's disappearance, Jamie/Cody still spends two straight weeks searching for any sort of new clues around his wife's last known location.

Ever since Lia's mom disappeared, her father has almost literally never left her side. If he had to go to work, or was on his annual two-week-long search, or even if he had a doctor's appointment or had to go grocery shopping, he ALWAYS left Lia in the care of a duplicate. Or... more accurately... he'd send the duplicate to the more monotonous activities: work, grocery shopping, PTA meetings, etc. He took “helicopter parenting” and cranked it to 11. At the age of 14 – when she was sent to the Institute to train – Lia had never once even been left home alone. Twice, Lia attempted to bring a boy home to date – once when she was 12 and then nearly a year later for her middle school's winter formal – and both times Jamie created two dupes: Lia's “Uncles” Maddy (derived from their last name) and Arthur (Jamie's middle name). I have yet to decide if Cody's clones will also bear these names. Anyway, the poor boys Lia was interested in were forced to not only prove themselves to Lia's over-protective father, but also to his two “brothers” (he acted as if he were a triplet), and the triple-threat usually scared the potential suitor off. This means, in X-Future, that Chayse is Lia's first boyfriend and first kiss. More on that in the relationships section publishing next.

Powers:

Lia has the exact same powers as her mother. It's a bit of a list, but it mostly focuses on lava control and all that could entail.

-- Pyrokenesis: Not only can she create fire, but she can also control it to a minor extent. This usually manifests as a wall of fire, fire balls, or a “beam” of fire - like laser blasts - shooting from her hands. She can also propel herself through the air with fire bursts from her feet, much like the rocket flight Iron Man utilizes. She cannot manipulate the shape of fire the way Pyro (Iggy) and Devon can.

-- Geokinesis: Basically, she's an Earth Bender from Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra. She can break apart chunks of earth and telekinetically move them; usually these are smaller chunks of earth, about the size of a basketball, although she can break apart larger portions if she uses other means to move the land (to be explained in a moment). She can, if she concentrates hard enough, also cause or stop earthquakes, as well as re-arrange the landscape within a rough 25ft (762m) radius.

-- Geo-thermokinesis: Ability to alter the temperature – and therefore pressure – of the earth in the immediate area. This allows her to create geysers, which she typically uses as smoke screens, or as propulsion for the larger land masses she broke away from the Earth (as mentioned above), catapulting her into the air. Her geo-thermokinesis also allows her – with great concentration – to either cause or stop volcanic eruptions. Likewise, instead of creating fire with her pyrokinesis, she can rapidly melt the Earth's crust to leave molten lava wherever she wished, within roughly a 25ft (7.62m) radius. A final benefit to her geo-thermokinesis is that she can create any form of lava-rock she wished, either as a means to create statues with differing stone structures (as she did with William; please see Lia's story line in Part 3), a way to create weapons/tools, or in order to manifest armor for her companions, or any other such need. She can create these stones one of two ways: adjust the chemical structure of existing earth/stone through rapid melting into lava and re-forming into solid stone, or creating the rocks from scratch using her own lava (see next bullet).

-- Obsidian Form: With training, she's now able to do most of the above without “powering up” into her “obsidian form.” However, if she needs to push the limits of her powers, and when she was first learning how to control them, she had to “power up” into this form, which amplifies her powers and control tenfold. When she does “power up,” her entire body turns into living lava.

To protect her surroundings and her companions, Lia instinctively encases her “obsidian form” with an obsidian skin (which includes obsidian nails). When she's in this form, her eyes turn into orbs of magma, her tongue is also a sheet of magma, and her hair takes on flame-like properties; flickering with her movements and the wind. Lia's obsidian skin encases her much like a ball-jointed doll, with cracks of lava showing through the flexed joints. Her teeth also become thick blocks of obsidian.

Her obsidian skin kicks in as a defense reflex. If she's ever struck by something that would otherwise puncture her skin, badly bruise it, or cause internal injuries (large falls or being slammed by/against something, for example), she instantly is encased in the obsidian. If she would be burnt by anything, she is also instantly transformed into her obsidian form. With training, she's able to actually focus this defense mechanism in order to armor certain parts of her body while keeping the rest of her flesh, blood, and bone (which makes baking fun because she never needs oven mitts anymore).

While in obsidian form, Lia can actually manifest an unknown amount of excess magma, and shoot streams of lava from the palms of her hand, much like how she can generate streams of fire in her flesh form.

Switching from flesh to Obsidian Form and back rejuvenates Lia, allowing her to heal superficial injuries such as minor cuts, bruising, sprained joints, or chipped skin (see Weaknesses below). For example: a cut along Lia's cheek would mend in obsidian form, and be healed when she transforms back into flesh. Likewise, a crack in Lia's obsidian skin (see below) would be healed by the time she's flash again. Since the rejuvenation requires Lia to convert all of her organs, muscles, tendons, and BONES into lava and then back, more significant injuries – such as broken bones or torn ligaments – can also be healed when transitioning from one form to the next, however, it is extremely draining to do so, and Lia nearly faints from exhaustion once back in her flesh form. On the flipside, more significant wounds such as punctures – being shot or run through – or lost body parts – such as cut-off fingers or busted out teeth – cannot heal via transitioning from one form to the next.

-- Body Temperature Control: To go along with her obsidian form, Lia cannot be burnt, nor can she ever freeze. She can withstand temperatures equal to molten lava (1,300-2,200 F {700-1,200 C}), basically because she herself can BECOME lava. However, anything hotter than 150-degrees Fahrenheit (~65 Celsius) – which, in and of itself, is hotter than the temperature at which normal skin starts to burn – and Lia will reflexively convert into obsidian form in order to protect herself. Likewise, her body temperature will start to rise to counter freezing temperatures; keeping her core temp at 98.6 F (37 C). However, in order to keep her core at the proper temperature, her body will automatically transform into her obsidian form once she hits external temperatures of sub-zero Fahrenheit (below -17 C). She can still bundle up, as a normal human would, in order to keep herself flesh in sub-zero temperatures. However, she really never feels the exhausting heat of summer/a desert, nor get a chill.

-- Elementally-Altered Lung Filtration and Eye Protection: Long and short on this one, her lungs are capable of filtering out the smoke, toxic fumes, and ash usually associated with fires and volcanic activity. This allows her to breathe perfectly fine while in these conditions. The lining of her throat, wind pipe, and lungs also have a higher heat tolerance so breathing in such hot air won't burn her. Her eyes also have an extra layer of protection, which allows them to stay moisturized in extreme heat/dry atmosphere, unaffected by the sting of smoke/ash in the air, and prevents her from going blind in extreme lighting. This also means things like smoke-bombs, flash-bombs, and tear-gas are all ineffective on her.

-- Weaknesses: First and foremost, Lia, much like her mother before her, is greatly affected by her proximity to the ground. If she's separated for long periods of time – such as being in the air, high up in a building, or on a ship in deep water – she develops an illness similar to seasickness/airsickness. She becomes quite weak and faint, as well as nauseated. Her powers don't work as well, or may not function at all, depending on how ill she's become. Because of this connection to the Earth, Lia tends to avoid socks and wears slip-on shoes or sandals/flip-flops. That way she can quickly kick off her shoes and actually feel the ground with her feet in order to anchor herself. She'll instantly start to feel better once she's on solid ground again, the rate of her healing dependent on how long she had been away from land.

Another great weakness of Lia's, as mentioned above, is that her powers, much like everyone’s, is largely tied to her emotions. The violent and destructive nature of her powers are closely linked to her rage/anger. This is discussed a bit more under “Power Manifestation” below, as well as in Part 3 when I discuss her story line on X-Future. Basically, she could unintentionally create an earthquake or cause volcanic activity simply by losing control of her temper and becoming unusually angry and/or aggressive.

While the obsidian skin she encases herself in is supposed to be an extra layer of protection, and obsidian is a very tough stone, it is also quite fragile if hit at the right angle. This means Lia's body is likely to not just cut and bleed, but flat out shatter if hit hard enough and at the correct angle. As discussed further in Part 3, the villain Trish nearly broke Lia's arm off at the elbow because of this flaw.

Another downside to Lia's obsidian form is that everything about her - aside from her teeth, nails, and skin – is made of magma. This means if her skin is broken in any way – the equivalent of her flesh being cut – she will “bleed” lava she can't control, so it will burn anything it touches (aside from her) just like natural lava would. Her tears/saliva are also made of lava, making her equally dangerous if she starts to cry or drool while in obsidian form. (Also, for gross thoroughness, her mucus is also made of lava, so a runny nose or bad cough is equally destructive). All of this is reason for Lia to stay outside of her obsidian form as much as possible to prevent a limb from being broken off or her bodily fluids burning through things.

Power Manifestation:

As mentioned above, Lia has to be careful to watch her anger since her control over her powers greatly dissolves whenever she's enraged. This is actually how Lia discovered her powers.

Even as an infant, Lia rarely got cold, usually running around in shorts and short-sleeves, even in the dead of winter in New York state. She didn't have the full range of her body temperature control before puberty, so she did have to wear protective clothing once the temperature had a “real feel” (includes wind chill) of about 10-degrees Fahrenheit (-12 C), and had to retreat to the shade if the “real feel” (includes humidity) was about 110-degrees F (43 C).

Her main power-set unlocked when she was 13. Her date to her middle school winter formal was just “scared off” by Jamie/Cody and his two “brothers.” Realizing it was her father's fault that her date cancelled on her, Lia threw a massive tantrum. She screamed at her father about his “helicopter parenting” and his constant babying of her; not allowing her to grow up. She yelled about her lack of independence, and stormed out of the house and onto their back porch. The moment she was outside, the ground began to tremor. The angrier Lia got, the more the property shook. Realizing what was going on, and fearful of the destruction Lia could cause with her mother's powers, Jamie/Cody tried to usher her back inside and up to the second story of their home; away from the ground.

Breaking away from her father, Lia raced off the porch and into their backyard. Nearly the instant her bare feet touched the grass, a small crack rippled through the ground, cutting the back yard in half. A few feet in front of Lia, a frisbee-sized geyser opened up, and exploded pressurized water from the town's underground stream.

Frightened by what just happened, Lia's anger instantly retreated, and she rushed to her father's embrace. He directed her to run to the attic and focus on staying calm until he can get to her later that night. He then got to work in duplicating himself so he could rush to repair the lawn before any neighbors noticed the improvised early-December hot spring that popped up in his yard. It only kept about two hours for Jamie/Cody to mend the property and go to Lia. He then reminded her of her mother's powers, and promised to help train her to control them.

He then became even MORE protective of Lia, both to keep her from anti-mutant/glitch attacks, as well as protect her classmates/teachers/neighbors from Lia's accidental activation of her powers. Jamie/Cody almost instantly knew that he wasn't cut out to train Lia, and wished Amara/Keahi was around to show Lia how to use her powers. Jamie/Cody was determined to have Lia finish middle school before getting uprooted. So the two of them worked closely on private training for the next half-year; struggling to keep it hidden from everyone that Lia was a mutant/glitch.  

Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters:

After Lia's middle school graduation, her father confessed that she would probably be safer, and receive better training for her powers, if she went to the Xavier Institute (Glitches alternative name TBD). It was hard at first for Lia to part from the only home she knew, but the realization that she'd be going to a boarding school all but convinced her to go; her chance to finally get out from under her father's thumb.

Lia celebrated Independence Day with her father with an extra layer of meaning; she was to start at the Institute the next day. She spent the rest of July and all of August reveling in living away from her father for the first time. She had some lonely moments where Jamie's/Cody's absence was painfully noticeable, but for the most part she loved the new-found independence. She prepared herself to start high school as a 'new woman' and excitedly looked forward to the school year.

The excitement quickly died during the back-to-school mixer the school held the Saturday before classes were to start. In the X-Future timeline, things were going great as Lia was approached by her crush Chayse. He asked her for a dance, only for both of them to be surprised by Jamie. Lia demanded to know why her father was there, only to find out that he missed her too much, so he signed up to be part of the faculty. Lia, embarrassed, enraged, and deflated to lose her new-found independence so soon after receiving it, stormed off into the yard. She became so overwhelmed that she accidentally switched to obsidian form; burning away the outfit she was wearing. She then had to find a way to discreetly sneak back into the building and up to her dorm room while technically naked...

Thankfully, life got a bit better as she started making lots of friends around the school, unofficially making herself the “mama” of the students. This has its downsides as well as she overburdens herself with responsibility for her fellow students. For more on this, check back in with Part 3: X-Future timeline.

Lia's Style:

When I first came up with Lia, I had her dressing more like Willow, but with a few cover shirts and leggings to be a touch more modest. Almost like she was rebelling with sexier clothes – showing off her mid-drift, her cleavage, bare shoulders, mini-skirts showing off her legs, etc – and then her “Daddy's little girl” persona would kick in and have her cover up with a cover shirt or leggings.

In truth, she still is a touch like this, but she has a bit more innocence in her initial wardrobe than I originally planned. Her outfits also used to mostly consist of grays and oranges, but over the years she's trended more towards reds, charcoal grays, and blacks, with orange and/or yellow as more accent colors to give that lava-like feel to her. Her hair, as mentioned above, is usually bone-straight, mid-back length, and hung loose. When she was younger – about 14/15 – she would wear hair clips to pin part of her hair out of her face, but they kept melting whenever she switched to obsidian. Soon she figured she looked more mature without the clips anyway, and now only puts up her hair for special occasions, such as the prom.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Aaaand, that's Lia! In a nutshell, at least. Sorry about this being a day late, and only being one part of a 6-part mini-series about her. I'll try to get the others up ASAP so I can also work on my next OC: Trish.

While you are waiting for Part 2, you can use this time to catch up on the other parts of my Meet My OCs series, in case you're new to them.

I started off with a “Who Wants to Meet My OCs?” introductory mini-series:

Part 1: Why I wanted to do this series, and the real-world inspirations for my main two worlds:

Gyateara – a high fantasy world that will, presumably, house many self-contained series that may or may not interconnect beyond all taking place on the same planet

Glitches – a pseudo-cyberpunk future AU of Earth where mutated humans – known as Glitches – must fight for equality, and even survival, while also dealing with the normal dramas of puberty.

In Part 2 of my series, I explained the real-world inspiration for my four main Gyateara OCs: Amara Yori, Jolene Crisslebalm, Natalie, and Connor.

Part 3 of this series went a bit long, so it was broken down into its own two-parter. In Part 3a, I talked about the creation of the four main characters of Glitches: Chayse, Lia, Willow, and Trish. As I mentioned above, I'm working on Lia now, Willow was two weeks ago, and Trish is next. I'll be finishing up with my husband's OC Chayse by the end of July.

For Part 3b of this series, I explained the canonical character origins of my adult Glitches, and how they’ve been reworked to create my still-evolving adult support characters for Glitches: Matteo, Emily, Ryder, Keahi, Cody, and Iggy.

Then, two weeks ago, I switched over to the main portion of this series: “Meet My OCs” starting with my 6-part “Meet Willow” mini-series.

Part 1: Willow's Overview and Background

Part 2: Willow's Relationships

Part 3: Willow's Character Arc Events

Part 4: The Images of Willow

Part 5: Story Samples of Willow

Part 6: Two Cheesy WWE13 Video Game Custom Wrestler Entrances

Again, sorry for the delay on Lia; life got complicated. Look for Part 2 (and maybe more) tomorrow!

[thesportssoundoff]

Dana White Contenders Series Season 3 Episode 5 Preview

Still format tinkering:

Ramazan Kuramagomedov vs. Jordan Williams Middleweights

Ramazan Kuramagomedov 5-0 record From Russia, currently residing in Vegas Trains out of Jackson-Wink

Fun Facts:

-Ramazan will be the FIRST Russian fighter to ever compete on the Dana White's Contenders Series -Has fought for both ACB out in Russia and the PFL -His last fight was in the PFL; a decision win over 5-2 Robert Hale

Check Him Out: vs Hale- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZUPpIp0mjM vs 18-4 Giorgi Valentini- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkRx9rbofAE

Jordan Williams 8-2 record From Wisconsin, currently residing in California Trains out of Nor-Cal Fighting Alliance

Fun Facts:

-Jordan Williams competed on the second season of the DWCS, fighting on short notice vs Tim Caron. He won the fight, didn't get a contract and then had the decision reversed because he tested positive for marijuana. -Jordan Williams is one of the rare fighters with Type 1 diabetes which took him from fighting at 170 lbs to 185 lbs -Williams has fought ONE UFC fighter previously; a 2016 KO loss to Dwight Grant (currently 2-1 in the UFC).

Check Him Out: vs 3-7 Richard Rigmden- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvc8MmKJ5bU vs 3-1 Alex Lopez- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45ytX60aC8Y

Terrance McKinney vs Sean Woodson Featherweights

Terrance McKinney 7-1 record From Chicago, training out of Seattle Trains with Sikjitsu (the same gym for fighters like Michael Chiesa and Julianna Pena)

Fun Facts:

-McKinney's one pro loss was in a fight where he suffered a knee injury a minute in. -Of his 8 fights, McKinney has two rematches on his record ergo half of his pro fights are owed to two opponents. -McKinney has a pretty amazing life story regarding drugs and alcohol which you can read here: (https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2019/07/dana-white-contender-series-terrance-mckinney-nearly-died-drug-use?utm_source=smg&utm_medium=wasabi&utm_content=home-hero)

Check Him Out: vs 9-5 Bobby McIntyre- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObOyoZjEzJQ

Sean Woodson 4-0 record From St. Louis Trains with Wolves Den MMA

Fun Facts:

-Woodson is taking this fight on a weeks notice which is horrifying since he is a 6'2 (!) featherweight. He did make weight but I can't imagine that cut being all too healthy. Woodson also has a 78 inch reach which adds to the intrigue. -Woodson has gone to decision in all of his fights EXCEPT for his debut which he won by rear naked choke -Woodson was training for a title fight in Shamrock FC when he got the call to compete on the DWCS

Check Him Out: vs 4-0 Rashad Lovelace- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW1f0zgWa4o

Christian Lohsen vs. JJ Okanovich Lightweights

JJ Okanovich 6-1 record From California Trains with AKA (the home of Daniel Cormier, Khabib Nurmagomedov so on so forth)

Fun Facts:

-Okanovich took a year to invest his time fully in running an HVAC business. -Okanovich has had 5 of his 7 fights in Bellator, going 5-0 against opposition with a combined 10-4 record. -Okanovich's first loss was a 30 second KO loss against Danny Ramirez in their respective debuts back in 2015.

Check Him Out: vs 0-0 Jamario Mulder- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlsHr_9vXzA

Christian Lohsen 7-1 record From Florida Trains with Darkwolf MMA

Fun Facts:

-Christian Lohsen is a black belt under Cesar Gracie -At 6-1 JJ Okanovich will be the first fighter with a winning record Christian Lohsen has faced since his third pro fight when he fought 1-0 Stefan Defalle -Christian Lohsen's is trained primarily by his dad a la Jordan Mein and Stephen Thompson

Check Him Out: vs 1-1 Daniel Matos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH-ywhLzcHM&t=13s

Jamahal Hill vs. Alexander Popeck Light Heavyweights

Jamahal Hill 5-0 record From Michigan Trains with ???? (Tapology doesn't have a gym listed and after reading six different articles, I cannot find a single one that lists his gym)

Fun Facts:

-Jamahal Hill's last official fight was at a catchweight of 220 lbs, he was training to make a drop to middleweight first via a 195 lb catchweight and then a fight at 185 lbs but both fights fell apart. The 195 lb card got cancelled and he got the DWCS offer to fight at LHW -He apparently played college basketball according to a few different interviews but I have yet to find anything to back that up. -Jamahal Hill is a rarity on the DWCS as he's beaten a UFC fighter before! He's 1-0 vs current members of the UFC roster, finishing Daquan Townsend in 2018.

Check Him Out: vs 19-7 Daquan Townsend- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI7Kq8GRZQI

Alexander Poppeck 9-2 record From Germany Trains With MMA Masters and the Impact Fight Academy

Fun Facts:

-Alexander Poppeck started his career as a welterweight and moved his way up to 205 lbs in his last pro fight at Titan FC. -One of Poppeck's losses is to former UFC veteran Rob Wilkinson who lost to Siyar Bahadurzada and Israel Adesanya before getting his release. His other loss is to Duško Todorovic who is fighting on the Contenders Series later in the season. -If you remove his last opponent, Alexander Poppeck's wins have a combined 14-10 record with 3 of them having below .500 records at the time of their fight

Check Him Out: vs 4-0 Dusko Todorovic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgsCIupb_PA vs some guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIPWw4rYYtA

Kamuela Kirk vs Billy Quarantillo Featherweights

Kamuela Kirk 9-2 record From Hawaii, Currently residing in Arizona Trains With Siege MMA

Fun Facts: -Kamuela Kirk is looking to become the third Hawaiian born fighter to win a contract on the DWCS this season. -Of Kirk's two pro losses, one is by split decision and the other is by majority decision. -Kirk missed an entire year of action due to a torn ACL but has gone 3-0 since coming back from the injury.

Check Him Out: vs 1-0 Brandon Trujillo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXkBDNjH2Pw vs 5-3 Kyle Reyes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIlt1KNHpO4

Billy Quarantillo 11-2 From New York, Currently residing in Florida Trains With Gracie Tampa South

Fun Facts: -Billy Quarantillo was a member of TUF 22 on Urijah Faber's team. He made the house then lost to eventual finalist Saul Rogers by decision in the opening round. -Quarantillo is 0-1 against members of the UFC roster, having lost to Michel Quinones (who went 0-2 in the organization). He also has losses to Strikeforce veterans JP Reese and (TUF castie) Marc Stevens. -Has been a pro the longest of anybody on this episode as a veteran since Feb of 2013

Check Him Out: vs Brandon Ricetti on TUF- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfJquDOSLzw vs 2-0 Oscar Figueroa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJHxGW2uk78

[rotzaprachim]

On the subject of triple frontier.  . let’s discuss this casting call: 

Kathleen Doyle-Hummel Casting is holding an open casting call for a movie being filmed on Oahu this summer called "Triple Frontier" starring Tom Hardy, Channing Tatum & Mahershala Ali. The movie is described as a "high-stakes ensemble crime thriller, the film is set in the notorious border zone between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil where the Igazu and Parana rivers converge -- making "la triple frontera" difficult to monitor and a haven for organized crime." SEEKING ALL TYPES INCLUDING: - Stand In's - Photo Doubles - Latino/Latina looking Spanish Speakers - Active Duty Military & Vets - Military Spouses - Field Workers - MMA Fighters - Tourists (All Ethnicities) - Street Vendors - Athletes - Farmers - Families (All Ethnicities) - Gang Members - Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders - Teen Age Looking, Spanish Speaking Males - Men/ Women with weapons training - Truck Drivers AGES 16 & OVER ONLY MUST BE LEGAL TO WORK IN U.S. NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY

Obviously Hawaii does have a significant Latine population, but this casting call does not suggest they were remotely invested in accurate casting. 

[theanticool]

Bellator women’s flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane’s scholarship fund has selected five native women to participate in a summer school program focused on native women.

Macfarlane (7-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA), a native Hawaiian, wants two local recipients to attend her title defense against Alejandra Lara (7-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) at Bellator 201, which takes place June 29 at Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, Calif., and airs on Paramount following prelims on the Bellator app.

The current problem: The event is sold out. Macfarlane, 28, said after local fighters return unsold tickets, she may have a shot at getting them in.

Macfarlane’s reason for hosting the native women goes beyond basking in her glory. She wants to show them a strong female role in the native community.

“I wanted to create the scholarship for these girls to see outside of the world that they know and give them a voice and give them a chance to fight back,” MacFarlane told MMAjunkie. The scholarship raised enough money to send five women through the program. It just so happened that the application process came at the same time Macfarlane was preparing for her fight at Bellator 201.

[Read More]

Shouts to Ilima-Lei MacFarlane who continues to be one of the good souls in this sport.

[lordmo]

random martial arts traditions I think would be cool for a fighting game character background, but also would work wonders for a martial artist character in a comic/OC/something else:

The Cholita wrestlers of Bolivia. Chances are, you’ve probably seen an article or two about them, but they’re women who do something like a lucha libre style of wrestling, wearing full-length dresses and traditional blouses.

Chidaoba, a Georgian folk-wrestling style that’s been considered one of the world’s oldest martial arts. Competitors wear jackets resembling gis and attempt to throw each other in dingy dirt pits, and the very VERY few who cross over into other sports become suplex machines.

The Shaolin disciples of Uganda. The internet-famous Wakaliwood film scene is largely centered around a group of Ugandans who - with money raised by their community members - traveled to China to learn kung-fu in the famous Shaolin temple, in order to bring their arts back to Africa.

From Myanmar, Lethwei is a kickboxing art that seems to hold some form of historical relationship with Muay Thai kickboxing. The main difference that most people seem to take away, is that Lethwei allows headbutts, but there is definitely a proud national element to take away from it.

The Bulgarian olympic training regiment may not necessarily be a martial arts tradition, but it created absolute Ivan Drago-esque monsters who went in hard and burned out fast.

Pacific isles such as Samoa and Tonga were often raided for sumo wrestlers, and produced some serious heavy-hitters - including Akebono Taro, an indigenous Hawaiian man who was the first non-Japanese to make the rank of Yokozuna. Of course, many of those who couldn’t QUITE hack it, instead became powerhouse professional wrestlers.

Shit, if you want a good story, pro wrestler Tonga Fifita (aka “Meng”) was hand-picked by the king of Tonga to train in sumo.

Njom or Laamb, or Senegalese folk wrestling, is an African fighting style that - like most standup folk wrestling styles - bears some heavy resemblance to sumo, but in Senegal (and surrounding countries) the fighters in this style are superstars.

Iran’s Kung Fu To’a is - on paper - a fusion of Kung-fu and Yoga that has some pretty unique movements but also has had full-contact competition going back to the 1950s.

From Vietnam, Vovinam is probably something you’ve seen exhibitions of passed around with labels like “never mess with a woman.” Vovinam shares a lot in common with other East-Asian martial arts, but allows flying holds and takedowns. The end result ends up looking like Muay Thai or Karate with flying armbars and headscissor takedowns.

Calcio Storico, now played only in Florence once a year, is a frankly buck-wild combination of rugby, MMA, and a drunken bar fight.

Many countries played into the history of Catch-as-Catch-Can wrestling, but it got its fame from western European competitors, who were famous for traveling across borders to take on all sorts of opponents in rough arenas, and expected to hold their own. Catch wrestling ended up extending from wacky “escapologist” shenanigans in the UK, all the way to the basis of modern MMA in Japan.

There’s an endless amount of fighting or fighting-adjacent disciplines and variations throughout the world! These are only a few -- Middle-Eastern countries tend to produce amazing grapplers, standup-based MMA comes out of Japan and China [Shooto and Sanda], Muay Thai made some significant mutations in the Netherlands and Brazil, Eritrea has a Capoeira-related martial art focused around headbutting, Ancient Greek Pankration has several organizations dedicated to its’ revival, a handful of practitioners are keeping traditional Sikh martial arts alive, Karate and Kung-Fu styles permeated into African-American culture in the ‘60s and ‘70s, etc., etc.

The point is that I’m not giving you a complete guide, I’m giving you an idea of what sort of interactions have happened across the globe in the 20th century alone. Hell, even different ruling bodies for the same sport (if there’s sanctioned full-contact at all) can dictate so much about how a character fights and how they handle a conflict. There’s so much crazy and cool stuff happening in the realm of “folks slugging one another for sport” that you’ll never know about if you never try to look it up. The entire world likes to fight, and nobody does it the same.

Reach out and touch someone? Reach out and punch someone.

[brawliis]

                   - 30 days of character development -

day 9. talk about your character’s parents. what is/are their mother(s) and/or father(s) like? are they close to their parent(s)? which parent, if applicable, does your character take after more physically? mentally? personality-wise?

FATHER. sakura’s father is a Kyoto native and the 4th generation master of the ogami dojo. he was the first in the family line to take on a daughter as a student, && to carry on the ogami name. though it is tradition to give that title to the eldest son of the family, master ogami didn’t see fault in his having only one child be female, claiming    ‘ the gods sent me a daughter for a reason. ‘    because of this, he expected sakura to be twice as strong as any male opponent. 

master ogami is an expectantly burly man with dark hair && eyes, fair skin, a 6′6″ stature, && deepset wrinkles in his face that make him look wise && honorable. his deepset voice can go from quiet to booming in a matter of seconds, && he is rarely seen smiling.

MOTHER. due to her sudden passing when sakura was only 3 years old, there isn’t much she remembers of her mother. however, sakura is constantly told that she is a carbon copy of her. her mother was of japanese-hawaiian decent, born in kahului, hawaii. she was the parent with pale hair && eyes, dark skin, && a square face shape that sakura presents. her mother, like the rest of the ogami family, was also of a taller stature, just shy of 6′ tall. 

her mother was a dancer, who’d moved to japan to perform traditional dance beyond standard hula. when sakura was very young, her mother would play traditional hawaiian music on a box radio && dance with her around the common area of their home.

sakura’s father tells her that in her mother’s final days, she was just as much of a fighter as any mma champion ---------- && he believes that sakura was born with her mother’s fighting spirit.

[thesportssoundoff]

“Is Brazil prepared for a Dragon, a Phenom, Rocky, an Alligator and potentially some good old fashioned Lineker violence?” UFC 224 Preview

Joey

May 7th

These long UFC breaks are a real sore, aren't they? After what feels like a much longer than it actually is week and change; the UFC returns and it's coming straight to PPV with a very...strange card. The main card isn't perfect by any stretch but it's a) good enough to be respectable and b) filled with everything you'd want for a modern day PPV except for the main ingredient I suppose. You've got a quality competent high level title fight, you've got a legends fight that's years in the making (since at least 2013 when Machida made his decision to drop to 185 known), you've got a guaranteed action fight brawl between John Lineker and Brian Kelleher, a phenomenal prospect getting the vaunted third fight treatment and a #1 contender fight at 185 lbs assuming that Chris Weidman's broken hand/shoulder/neck/knee/everything is still on the mend. From there though I think the card really suffers primarily from a lack of one big defining fight that can tie it all together and make it a deep card. It's fine; it's a Brazilian level UFC event. I feel like it could've benefitted from a Iuri Alcantara sighting basically or some Brazilian of a high level who you could see as a prelim headliner.

Fights: 13

Debuts: 0

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 0

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC):  7 (Amanda Nunes, Ronaldo Souza, Kelvin Gastelum, Lyoto Machida, John Lineker, Thales Leites, Cezar Ferreira)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC:   1 (Thales Leites)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC:   5 (Alberto Mina, Raquel Pennington, Amanda Nunes, Elizeu Zaleski, Nick Hein)

Main Card Record Since Jan 1st 2016 (in the UFC):  25-9-2

Amanda Nunes- 4-0 Raquel Pennington- 3-0 Ronaldo Souza- 3-1 Kelvin Gastelum- 3-1-1 (really 4-1) Amanda Bobby Cooper- 2-2 Mackenzie Dern- 1-0 John Lineker- 4-1 Brian Kelleher- 3-1 Lyoto Machida- 1-1 Vitor Belfort- 1-2-1 (1-3 reaaaaaally)

Too High Up- Davi Ramos vs Nick Hein

In truth everything on the main card is pretty much what it should be. The prelims are such a grab bag of "decent but not thrilling" that it's hard to pick one fight that maybe has the capacity of being out of place. That belongs to this fight where Nick Hein returns from an extended absence to face Davi Ramos on the middle of the FS1 card. I have no beef with Davi Ramos but Hein is a notoriously slow boring fighter who more often than not has fights that tend to sap the will of viewers like they're trapped in a RNC. It's also worth pointing out that Hein is 33 and he hasn't fought since 2016. Put this on Fight Pass, man.

Too Low- Alberto Mina vs Ramazan Emeev

This is a touch hypocritical given Emeev stunk up the joint and Mina hasn’t fought in a year and change either. I get it but listen. Alberto Mina is a pretty fun fighter to watch who has finished 2 of his 3 UFC fights, racking up wins over Yoshihiro Akiyana and Mike Pyle if you're looking for "names" to get excited over. Ramazan Emeev is coming off a win at 185 lbs vs Sam Alvey in a dumb fight but Emeev is figured to be a fighter worth keeping an eye on at 170 lbs. It's a far more intriguing fight on paper than Hein/Ramos.

Stat Monitor for 2018: Debuting Fighters (Current number: 9-14):  

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 10-4):

Second Fight (Current number: 12-12):  James Bochnovic, Markus Perez, Ramazan Emeev, Karl Roberson, Mackenzie Dern

Cage Corrosion (Current number: 5-10):  Alberto Mina, Sultan Aliev, Nick Hein, Raquel Pennington

Undefeated Fighters (Current number: 15-10):  Mackenzie Dern, Karl Roberson, Alberto Mina

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- Let's talk about the card real quick, eh? Amanda Nunes is under 30 but she'll be over the dreaded "RB decline age" shortly. How many other Brazilian fighters on this card are under 30?

John Lineker- 27 Junior Albini- 27 Warrley Alves- 27 Markus Perez- 27

Now Mackenzie Dern is 25 years old but she was born in the United States. If you want to give her to Brazil for the sake of continuity then you're more than welcome to but the point remains. What's more? Albini is coming off a loss, Alves is 1-2 in his last 3 fights, Markus Perez is coming off a loss and while we all love Lineker, I feel like the ceiling on him at 125 and 135 lbs has been somewhat established. People make a lot of talk about the lack of Brazilian champions but that's not a massive problem. I was there in 2012 when everybody was panicking about the lack of American champions during the Brazilian boom period of MMA. The problem is Brazil lacks a fresh young core of new talents under 30 who can make waves in the UFC. I mean stop me if you've heard this one BUT the hope when the UFC decided to invest countless dollars into Brazil was that at some point they'd find, cultivate and develop a bumper crop of young stars for when Anderson, Shogun, Maia, Machida, the Nog Brothers and Vitor were gone. It hasn't happened yet and each attempt has been in vain. That's why Thomas Almeida was received with open arms; it's not JUST that dude was a tremendous fight finisher and all violence fighter. It's that his youth and upside made him a product they HAD to try and develop. It's why Paulo Costa's development as a fighter is so vital; the 27 year old middleweight is a glorified unicorn at this point. Brazil doesn't need one last glory run from guys who are already established. What they REALLY need to do is to find new guys who can carry the banner.

Now the rule of thumb as always is that it only takes one to do it. A fighter like Michael Bisping is considered to have opened the door for other fighters and then the door was reopened by Conor McGregor for European fighters. It's hard to find a Hawaiian fighter who didn't get into MMA through BJ Penn fandom. Fedor is probably more responsible for the current influx of tremendous Russian born fighters than anybody else. The hope is 5-10 years from now, Ronda Rousey's lasting impact on MMA isn't the million buy PPVs or the out of the cage wackiness but the hundreds of women she'll have influenced to get into MMA.  There's no way to tell who it is and what it's going to take for it to happen. We've been waiting on Canada to find the heir to the GSP throne for quite some time now. Eventually a new fighter to capture the hearts and minds of the people will come----but time's ticking. Brazil isn't hopeless but it has to be getting to the point where the UFC is simply running out of draws for the market. No Nog, No Anderson, soon no Vitor, eventually no Maia, Werdum or Machida. Cyborg isn't going to be around for the UFC much longer either. The time for somebody to step up has NEVER been more immediate. Maybe this is why there's going to be a most convenient case of amnesia on where Mackenzie Dern was born.

2- There's an MMA fan theory I've seen on a few forums about the # of WMMA fights on a card relating to buyrate. The general feeling is that like flyweights, the more WMMA fights you have on a main card the less likely you are to pop a significant buyrate.  I decided to go back to 2016 and take a peek at the rumored buyrates for shows with TWO WMMA fights on a card.

UFC 196 (Nunes/Shevchenko, Holm/Nunes)- 1.3 mil UFC 205 (Joanna/Karolina, Tate/Pennington)- 1.3 mil UFC 219 (Holm/Cyborg, Esparza/Gadelha)- 300K UFC 222 (Cyborg/Kunitskaya, Vieira/Zingano)- 260K

So obviously we're not blessed with a tremendous sample size. We've got four events here and two of them with McGregor as the headliner did McGregor level numbers. The other two? I mean they're not bad! Mighty Mouse would sell his gaming rig to headline a PPV that did that kind of scratch. A WMMA headliner outside of Ronda tend to do alright-ish I suppose. I mean Holm vs GDR did in the 200K+ range and again, that sort of number would be something Mighty Mouse would hunger for. I guess the point I'm trying to illustrate is that I don't think this card is DOA. So what MIGHT it draw? Well....we can start by acknowledging that Brazil is where PPV buyrates go to die. Outside of Ronda making a pinch hit appearance to spruce the market (and secure a new deal for the UFC), these shows normally top off around the low to mid 300Ks. Now in today's PPV market that sounds pretty damn fine but that was with Anderson Silva in the height of his GOATness headlining. Jose Aldo PPVs from Brazil routinely did awful bottom of the barrel type numbers. The last time the UFC did a PPV in Brazil; the general thought was that it topped off around the 250K+ range. Not awful of course but probably not the best either for a unification bout between Aldo and Holloway. This card is a lot better than people are giving it credit for but Nunes vs Shevchenko left a sour taste in people's mouths plus Amanda Nunes is just genuinely unpopular. In today's PPV market, it takes more than just a card of really good fights. It has to be "an event" more than just "a fight." If this card drops below 200K, I think that's probably a bad deal.

3- I feel like this is going to answer more questions than Nunes/Shevchenko II re: Amanda Nunes and her long term success going forward. If you drew up a fighter who could prey on the things that have been of woe to Nunes' success, it's a fighter who has SOME of the Rocky Pennington attributes. The sort of person who doesn't get overwhelmed by pressure, who can dish it out and take it in return, who hits surprisingly hard and relies on durability and patience. Pennington is really crude but she makes it work for her and she's one of those fighters who fights better when tired. Amanda Nunes has struggled with people who don't fold vs her pressure and her cardio remains a question until I see her in a fight where it's truly tested. Her vs Shevchenko was a low output high leverage staring contest which didn't really force her to exert much of anything. To this point, Nunes deserves fantastic credit for making sure cardio isn't an issue by just running through people. This is still a very unique test for her.

4- I just wish Pennington hadn't been gone for over a year. This year I started tracking performances of fighters who take more than a year off and the 5-10 number is not pretty. What's more; Nunes is arguably the best first round fighter in MMA today and so if Pennington is rusty (which she will be), she might not even get a chance to test what Nunes has in rounds 3, 4 and 5.

5- Kelvin Gastelum vs Jacare is such a weird fight for me. It's a fight where logic dictates Gastleum should have no shot given the size difference but one where he remains a credible threat. I lack a defined way to describe Jacare other than to call him perhaps history's most undervalued commodity; one of the best grapplers with really good striking backed by one of the games most active fight IQs. Like Damien Maia, he just isn't athletic enough to really get over a certain caliber of fighters. Guys who he can't get down he often struggles with and against Whittaker and Romero, he was taken out of his gameplan early due to a speed and athleticism disadvantage. Like Whittaker, Gastelum will give up size in exchange for speed and the cardio advantage. The key difference is Whittaker is insanely hard to get down and keep down whereas I can't get Weidman taking Gastelum down out of my head. Gastelum CAN be taken down but on the ground he's really great at neutralizing offense and getting back to his feet. I'm just not sure Jacare is the right person to want to try to show that off against. Jacare also does some of his best work securing takedowns against the cage and Gastelum does his best work practically leaning on the fence. This is a really good fight with the winner leaving no doubt as to who the #1 contender is since Chris Weidman has evaporated into the ether seemingly.

6- Have the expectations become too much for Mackenzie Dern? It's beginning to feel like if she doesn't steamroll ABC in the first round then the scrutiny on her performance is going to be pretty crazy.

7- It's a little bit bittersweet that Lyoto Machida vs Vitor Belfort is potentially a double retirement fight. The fact we never got Anderson vs Vitor II or Lyoto vs Shogun III will always be bummers to me. On the other hand, we've hit "No mas" for Vitor Belfort like a full two years ago and Machida is either at that point or quickly approaching it. This is a rare acceptable legends fight with the right market to engage in it.

8- Since they're fighting we might as well ask this; whose legacy is more vital to the history of MMA? Vitor Belfort or Lyoto Machida?

9- There are going to be actual human beings walking among us breathing our air and drinking our water who will not watch Lineker vs Kelleher based solely on their height and weight. These creatures exist.

10- If you haven't seen Yoshihiro Akiyama vs Alberto Mina yet, I recommend you do so. One of the wilder and crazier fights in recent memory which is forgotten since it happened at like 8 AM Eastern.

11- The best prospect on this entire show is not a Brazilian but an American in Karl Roberson. He trains out of a tiny gym in New Jersey, was thrown into the fire of kickboxing vs Jerome LeBanner and Dustin Jacoby and before his sixth mma fights, he was already in the UFC. After ONE fight in the UFC, he was already trying to step up to fight Vitor Befort on LESS than 24 hours notice. He's the rare good example of guys tested before they're ready in that he's already faced a fire storm and come out stronger each time. He's got Cezar Mutante in the FX prelim headliner.

12- Elizeu Zaleski has been in five UFC fights. Three of them won a FOTN bonus and the Dalby-Zeleski fight should've won a fourth. He is all action all the time and while Sean Strickland is not the right opponent if you want to have an action fight, I get the feeling Zaleski will drag him into one kicking and screaming.

Must Wins

1- Amanda Nunes

Simply put this show is all about her. She's getting a bit of a stay busy opponent in Pennington with the right kind of strengths to test what have previously been flaws for Nunes. The show is all about her and it's being built around her returning to Brazil as the UFC's top Brazilian champion (at least over the long haul).

2- Jacare Souza

Kelvin Gastelum is really young for 185 lbs so the opportunity to be a contender/champion is always going to be there for him. This is about 38 year old Jacare trying to finally get a UFC title shot after scrapping and scrounging for over five years in the org plus an MMA career that feels like it spans well into the 19th century. The last time he was this close; her an into a fighter similar to Kelvin Gastelum who wouldn't get taken down and just pieced him up in striking range until Jacare just couldn't take it anymore. Lightning strikes twice?

3- Mackenzie Dern

Take everything said about Nunes and then put that in here minus the champion bit. Dern is Brazil's top prospect for the UFC now that Thomas Almeida has sort of settled into a bit of a mid level range.

Five Can't Miss Fights

1- Brian Keller vs John Lineker

2- Lyoto Machida vs Vitor Belfort

3- Kelvin Gastelum vs Ronaldo Souza

4- Elizeu Zaleski vs Sean Strickland

5- Junior Albini vs his diaper

[frontproofmedia]

Rachael Ostovich Wins Unanimous Decision Over Paige Van Zant At BKFC 19

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By Hector Franco

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Published: July 24, 2021

TAMPA, FL – Last night at The Florida State Fairgrounds Expo Hall was loud as can be as Bare Knuckle Championship Fighting put on another exciting night of action in Tampa.

The card known as BKFC 19 was headlined by former mixed martial arts fighter Paige Van Zant (0-2), taking on Hawaii’s Rachael Ostovich (1-0) in a pseudo-rematch. The fight would be scheduled for five two-minute rounds.

The two first faced each other in MMA in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) in January 2019.

That day Van Zant came out victorious with an armbar submission.

Under the rules of the BKFC, fights range from five to seven rounds, with championship fights being nine rounds. Each round is two minutes long.

Both combatants start each round in the center of the ring, three feet apart from one another, standing at two lines. Both fighters have their wrists and thumbs taped with only their knuckles being exposed.

Only bare-knuckle punches can be used as offense.

The rules set up by the BKFC lead to faster-paced fights that keep fans engaged even when a knockout isn’t scored.

Heading into the bout, Van Zant could be seen working on her boxing skills at the Mundo Boxing Gym in South Florida, being trained by Pedro Diaz. The Cuban boxing trainer is best known for training two-time boxing Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux and four-weight division champion Miguel Cotto.

In Van Zant’s first fight in the squared circle in the BKFC, she lost a close decision to Britain Hart in February 2021. Van Zant was looking to get her first victory in BKFC against Ostovich as the stigma of being just a pretty face still at times plague’s the former UFC fighter.

For Ostovich, the fight with Van Zant was not only an opportunity to gain some measure of vengeance against a former opponent, but after three straight losses in the UFC that was followed by a release from the MMA company, a chance to change the momentum of her career.

Like many bare-knuckle fights, the bout started with a fury between Van Zant and Ostovich. Van Zant attempted to be the aggressor while Ostovich fought on the back foot holding off numerous charges.

In the second round, the bout changed dramatically as Ostovich began to time Van Zant with clean right hands whenever she attempted to move forward. The right hands from Ostovich made Van Zant weary from attacking the Hawaiian fighter on the inside.

Van Zant found herself in the same position against Ostovich as she was with Hart. Seemingly behind on the scorecards, Van Zant attempted one last rally in the fifth and final round, but was met with more accurate right-hand counters that sent her back.

After five rounds of action, all three judges scored the fight for Ostovich with scores of 48-47 twice and 49-46.

With another event in the books, the BKFC continues to provide an exciting alternative that could potentially bring MMA and traditional boxing fans together. The fights are fast-paced and, at times, can be brutal and bloody.

As for, Ostovich and Van Zant, a rematch could be next for them. Both women put on an excellent performance in front of a crowd that was hanging on to every punch.

(Featured Photo: Bare Knuckle FIghting Championship)

[news247planet]

#believes #Featured #Holloway #UFC Max Holloway nonetheless believes he’s “a greater fighter” than Alexander Volkanovski regardless of dropping three fights https://news247planet.com/?p=172344

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Hilo, Hawaii's Brandon Sayles to join Professional Fighters League's 2021 season

Hilo, Hawaii’s Brandon Sayles to join Professional Fighters League’s 2021 season

Brandon Sayles

Brandon “Man of War” Sayles, 39, of Hilo, Hawaii, United States has joined the Professional Fighters League. The Hawaiian mixed martial artist and former U.S. Army Combatives instructor will make his PFL debut in 2021.

Born in Hilo on April 23, 1981, Sayles won the U.S. Army Combatives championship title in the heavyweight division in 2006, 2008 and 2009. He did not hold the title…