Round Two

Carmen instinctively got her arm up after she fell to a knee, expecting Diana to be on her half a second later, setting her up for some devastating move. The reprieve surprised - she was allowed room to breath, given time to recover. A rare unwise move from the Italian, in her opinion, but one she’d have no qualms exploiting to the fullest.

She tapped her fist on the mat and came rushing out of the crouch, staying low as she plowed into the bigger woman and looking to plant her shoulder into Diana’s iron stomach. At the same time, Carmen reached around her thighs and tried to pull them towards her, looking to bring the Amazon down on her back with a double-leg takedown, hopefully get a good position for racking up quick damage.

And there it was, the counter spring board like pounce that Diana predicated. It was pretty easy to, after all, considering Carmen's position, anyone would of tried it to force them self into the Italian. The only other option was to simply stand and step back, and Diana sensed, that just like herself, Carmen was ready to switch things up.

The prediction didn't help much in the form of preparing a defence, hooking a single arm instead of two as Carmen rammed her shoulder into her, baring her teeth and resisting the urge of giving Carmen the satisfaction of a huge huff of air been audibly forced from Diana's gut.

Her legs would soon be caught, without much form of counter attempt. No, Diana instead opted to go down easy, her arm through and up Carmen's armpit, keeping the champion close when she fell to her butt. If Carmen wanted to pull back to gain the distance to throw her champion level jabs, she'd have to damn well fight for it.

Carmen was a high speed bullet train as she crashed into Diana, with an impact that was almost as sudden. Down they went, with the 24/7 champion on top. That part was good. That part was just how she liked it, exactly what she wanted..

But being on top didn't mean you were in control, as Diana demonstrated when she trapped Carmen arm. If there was a referee nearby, she'd be trying to break them up. As they were, however, things were grinding to a halt, with the two of them pressed tight, their glistening bodies sliding up against each other.

Carmen still had one arm to work with, though, and she tried to use that one arm to throw punches into Diana’s side, hoping to get her to back off. Her ground game was far from her best asset, and she didn't feel like testing it here. ”Off me!” She buried her face into the Italian Amazon’s shimmering hair and growled, sounding like a wild animal caught in a snare.

Holding the champion close, Diana almost suspected a head butt wasn't coming her way. It wasn't exactly boxer like conduct, and she sensed the unspoken agreement with the two over a clean match included head butts amongst the likes of low blows and hair pulls. She'd grunt, praying the girl made a mistake in terms of distributing her weight, so Diana could literally flip her up and over, reversing their positions. Then again, it was hard to screw up simply laying on someone.

A few sharp jabs came into her side, causing her body to tense and teeth to bare. She suspected Carmen knew they weren't exactly knock out blows, but then again, ten jabs to the same spot even with next to no wind up from someone like Carmen would take even the biggest of foes down.

With one arm free and unused, save for pushing her up slightly from the mat as not to be completely grounded, Diana suddenly shot it up, aiming to latch on Carmen's throat. The power she'd force through wouldn't exactly make Carmen's eyes roll, but next to no women in AFW likely could such with a one handed choke. Couldn't hurt to wound her though.

This was hardly the first time Carmen had been in the gym after hours, and she’d become very familiar with the deathly silence that could come over the place when it wasn't filled with two dozen hyperactive little girls. The place had strong acoustics, and even the sound of a pin drop seemed to echo forever.

The sounds of their match was no different. Every grunt and groan rebounded from wall to wall, coupled with the zone of slapping skin. It almost didn't sound like a fight at all, but something different, yet just as primal and passionate.

Carmen didn't have much time to dwell on it.

That was, until she suddenly found it very to difficult to breath. Diana’s hand clamped around her throat and squeezed with an inexorable grip. It was only one hand, yes, but given the woman behind it, there was still good reason to worry. Diana could do more with one arm than many wrestlers could do with two.

Carmen immediately stopped the jabs and focused all her efforts on pulling away the deadly hand from around her throat, desperate for any respite she could find.

Diana wouldn't of at all been surprised if Carmen no sold the choke, she was that calibre of foe, even with Diana's strength behind it. That been said, she took satisfaction in the fact she immediately stopped trying to turn her side a nice shade of red with those rapid jabs, immediately taking in a breath after Carmen was done trying to tap it out of her. With Carmen's focus on removing her claw from her throat, Diana couldn't exactly continue the choke, but would damn well sure make it seem she was determined to, in an attempt to keep Carmen's focus on her hands.

If she did, Diana would try for a display of excellent technical ability, one she'd hope would actually impress her champion level rival.

With Carmen essentially sat on her stomach, one arm still tied, the other pulling Diana's own off her throat, chin just above Diana's forehead, she'd take a huge breath. Bringing her free legs up, she'd try to hook both under Carmen's armpits, so that her feet were just under Carmen's chin. If all went to plan, with a huge heave of lower body strength, she'd try to pull Carmen cleanly off her backwards, ideally straight to the mat. If her rival didn't look to counter, Diana would make every effort to try and roll away, finally getting the distance she was craving.

Carmen was exceedingly glad for her renewed ability to breathe in fresh air, as she managed to pry her neck free of Diana’s death grip. She didn’t have long to enjoy it, though. This was Diana Accera she was dealing with here, after all, and once Diana Accera got started, she didn’t stop until you made her stop.

Carmen knew she was dealing with a complete athlete here, but she’d underestimated just how well rounded the Italian Amazon was. At first, she thought Diana was just randomly struggling around, but it became apparent she was doing much more when her legs came up in an impressive display of flexibility, hooking Carmen under the arms. Apparently, she was going for a ride.

The 24/7 Champion let out an undignified yelp as she hurled head over heels and dumped uncerominiously on her back, nearly falling out of the ring. She’d been taken off guard, and the ironic thing was that, if a referee had been present, Carmen might’ve been able to score a pinfall a second ago when she was on top. Which reminded her - couldn’t hurt to establish some quick rules.

”Knockouts only.” Carmen spat out, as she started to get back to her feet and resumed a fighting stance. There. Rules set.

With the champ off her, Diana would be quick to perform a full roll, gaining her space and moving in a way that left her diagonally from where she just pulled Carmen to. Her head lifting up briefly, to see if she'd follow, she'd let out a huff of air, as it seemed her foe was too more interested in resetting the fighting stances. In a display of flashy acrobatics, she'd bring up her legs, using her arms to hold the mat, before shooting them forward, bringing herself up in a impressive kip up. Usually, one would perform a kip up to quickly stand and gain advantage, but given the two had too great a distance for the Italian to do so, it was pretty evident she was just showing off.

She'd shake off her arms, bouncing on her toes to try and get the adrenaline flowing, mostly to aid her in baring through the pain of what had so far been mostly a Carmen led match. She didn't respond to the setting of rules, in her mind, she thought it was obvious. No referee to count a pin or recognise the submission. And it was Diana and Carmen after all, not exactly the 'soft finishing' sort.'

Most would open their mouth in Diana's shoes, maybe shoot a comment towards Carmen how of course they'd be the ones sending Carmen unconscious. More actions over words, she stepped forward, arms up once more, intending to show Carmen what those many would simply taunt over doing.

Diana didn't say anything in response and Carmen hardly expected her to. If anything, it would've been surprising if she responded with anything but her usual indifference Carmen was hardly presenting anything groundbreaking, but she felt it didn't hurt to be clear on things.

Carmen stood up, dusted herself off, and brought her hands up, mirroring Diana’s stance with her own. In the quiet night, a police siren blared off in the distance. It was the closest thing they’d get to a round bell.

The 24/7 Champion moved in towards her heated rival, this time with more cautious, measured steps, carefully padding along the ring in her bare feet. Each time her toes touched the floor, she kept the back of her heel just slightly off the canvas, knowing she’d might have to spring away at a moment's notice. She kept her eyes trained on every inch of her opponent, looking for any signs of a sudden attack.

Close. Closer. Closest.

With only a couple of feet between them, Carmen broke and crashed into Diana, locking with the collar-and-elbow and trying to force her back towards the corner.

With both fighters obtaining the same stance, their 'warm-up' clearly finished with, it seemed both women were ready to really begin the match, a fact made more so clearer by the establishment of a KO only finish. Diana had every belief another set of boxing hooks and jabs were coming her way, her own posture more defensive than offensive, fully intending to take those strikes so she could gain the close distance she'd need to unleash her wrestling arsenal.

A collar and elbow hookup wasn't exactly a boxing manoeuvre, sure MMA, but this was Carmen Rodriquez champion boxer, not UFC home grown. Needless to say it caught the Italian off-guard, stumbling a good few steps backward with the surprise power of her foe, before bracing, bringing her arms up and locking in similar fashion. She'd turn her head a fraction, spotting her relative closeness to the corner, before looking straight back into Carmen's.

Her own eyes seemed to scream their own rebellious answer to Carmen's question of whether Diana would easily go in the corner. No chance.