Jesse Rogers vs Alicia Wells

A knee grazed against Jesse’s left arm, but it didn’t have anywhere near the impact of the uppercut that smashed into Alicia’s jaw! The crowd cheered on as the big strike sent her staggering back. “Nice shot, Jess!” Julia called out at ringside to cheer her sister on. And for the briefest of moments, Jesse almost smiled as the thought sank in that her sister was out her supporting her in a match with the biggest pro-wrestling agency in the world. It wasn’t that long ago where something like that would’ve outright seemed impossible to her.

But she didn’t let herself get caught up in the moment. Alicia was dazed, but she wouldn’t be for more than a second or two. The window to follow up was small and quickly closing, but Jesse fully intended to make that opening while it lasted.

She ran forward, closing the distance as quickly as she could, before lunging out with her arm and aiming to slam her forearm hard right into Alicia’s face in hopes of taking her foe off her feet!

Rocked back on her heels by the uppercut, Alicia didn’t have a chance to get her wits about her again before Jesse was right back in her face. Certainly, she wasn’t given the time to get her guard back together so it was almost inevitable that whatever Jesse was up to was going to work unless it was stupidly complex. And the other striker was keeping it devastatingly simple for the moment.

It was still a nice combo.

A forearm to the face wasn’t the most punishing move of all time but, given how she was already thoroughly off balance, it didn’t really have to be. As the blonde slammed into her, Alicia toppled over backwards, instinctively protecting her head as she fell. It took her a second, then she was rolling over onto her side, curling to protect her vulnerable midsection and lashing out with one leg in a kick that was meant to keep Jesse at arm’s length for the time it took Alicia to get back to her knees at least.

Boom!

The forearm took Alicia down, leading the crowd to cheer as a fighter was taken off her feet for the first time in this bout. “There ya go! Stay on her!” Julia called out at ringside, though Jesse was already on it, quickly moving toward her downed foe.

A leg lashed out and connected with Jesse’s thigh, stopping her in her tracks, and the blonde took a shuffling step back. Alicia might’ve been down, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t dangerous. The girl seemed to have a certain knowledge of how to defend herself on the ground, but her attempt to get up quickly suggested she was much more comfortable on her feet. Understandable. Jesse had a similar mindset. But she wasn’t about to let Alicia get back up quite so easily.

Jesse shuffled just outside of the range of Alicia’s legs. She waited until right when her foe got back to her knees, then took a lunging step forward and threw roundhouse kick with her right leg aimed at Alicia’s sternum!

She hadn’t really expected the kick to land, hoping instead that the threat would keep Jesse back long enough to get her head back in the game. So the familiar feeling of her booted foot slamming against a leg was a pleasant surprise to Alicia, given it hadn’t been the best aimed kick she’d ever thrown or the most powerful. Still, it got Jesse to back off for a moment and having been smacked in the face, a moment was about the best gift Alicia could ask for.

One problem she was facing was that getting up put her in a risky position. With her legs under her, she couldn’t do anything with them and that would give Jesse a perfect opportunity to hit her from outside her range. Nor was Alicia quite ready to just scramble to her feet before she could be kicked in the face. But she felt she’d do better here standing – she was enjoying the cut and thrust of the fight so far. And she didn’t know how good the other fighter’s ground game was. Alicia was confident in her own skills but an unknown quantity was an unknown quantity.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like Jesse was interested in letting her get back up so soon. More or less as soon as the redhead had got to her knees, the blonde was coming back in with a roundhouse kick that she stood almost no chance of blocking.

The best Alicia could do was get her arms up to take the worst of the force. But the blow still slammed into her torso, leaving her wheezing for breath as what she’d had rushed out of her body.

It was probably futile, but she made an effort to see if she could snag that foot or leg before Jesse pulled it back. If she could get a grip, yank the blonde down to the floor, maybe she could score mount and put some good shots in herself. Or go looking for a submission. She had to try at least – if not, she’d be horribly vulnerable to another shot from the still-standing striker.

The explosive kick struck the bullseye, much to Jesse’s delight. Her foe was kneeling and winded, and with this sort of positioning the blonde seemed to be in quite an advantageous spot. However, one small wrench was thrown into the equation, but it was enough to throw Jesse off.

Right after her kick connected she tried to bring her leg back. But as she did an arm lashed out and kept it from moving for a split second while the rest of her body attempted to move back. The result, Jesse suddenly found herself off balance and clumsily stumbling down onto her rear.

The fall was far from painful by itself, but Jesse understood just how quickly the pendulum of momentum could swing if Alicia was given an easy opening. There was the option of simply staying down and trusting in her ability to defend from the ground. Maybe that could work, but Jesse was better on her feet than on her back, and she didn’t quite like the idea of having to fight with a woman 20 lbs heavier on top of her. So instead she made a sloppy but hasty attempt to climb back to her feet. This did leave her relatively vulnerable and off balance for a very brief moment. Whether or not Alicia could react before that window closed would likely determine whether or not Jesse had just made a serious blunder.

Blocking a kick like that in a position like Alicia’s was kind of a misnomer. You didn’t block it so much as you tried to get your arms in the way and take as much of the force on them as possible. In this case, the red-haired kickboxer had managed to steal enough of the sting to keep up on her knees but that was about all she could say for her success. It’d still rocked her back on her knees, it had still left her gasping for the air that had just rushed out of her lungs and it had still left her with only the one desperate gamble to stop Jesse doing that again right to her face.

That probably wouldn’t have been game over but it damn sure wouldn’t have left Alicia in anything like a good position.

So, while she was actually almost as surprised as Jesse when she caught her opponent’s leg, she was really happy she’d managed it. Even better, she’d got the other striker off her feet for a moment and she needed to at least try and take advantage.

If she waited, Jesse was going to be back on her feet and, even if she stood as well, Alicia would still be winded. Not great odds there. So, instead, Alicia shifted her stance as best she could and just threw herself at Jesse as her opponent tried to stand. She had the weight advantage and some little momentum behind her, and she meant to use them. It wasn’t elegant or polished or really anything other than a tackle with strength and speed behind it but the window was slamming shut already and she needed to keep Jesse off her feet.

Ideally, she’d end up mounting the other striker, which would give her all sorts of options. But, right now, she’d take whatever she could get.

In the very brief instant that Jesse had to contemplate her situation as she stumbled down and attempted to recover, she inwardly prayed her kick a moment ago had stunned Alicia enough to keep her from capitalizing. Unfortunately that proved to just be wishful thinking. And before she could even fully get back up to her feet, the redhead came crashing right into her.

“Ugh!” Jesse grunted out as she was tackled to the mat. Alicia’s superior weight assisted in driving some extra wind out of the blonde’s sails. But likely much worse than that was that Jesse was now on the wrong end of a mount, with Alicia seated over her midsection.

A small growl of frustration came from Jesse, but she still had the mental clarity to immediately switch to a defensive mode. She shifted her legs to place her soles on the mat so she could try to buck Alicia off if she wanted, though she didn’t try to do so immediately. Wasting too much energy trying to throw the heavier girl off like a wild bronco would just tire her out and make it easy for Alicia to pick her apart. For the moment she just kept her legs ready in that position, and brought her fists up in preparation to try to guard her face against whatever might be coming down at it in the next few moments.

Even as she slammed into Jesse, Alicia was still struggling to get her own breathing back under control, her arms and ribs protesting thoroughly at what she was expecting of them so soon. But she’d got an opportunity and it needed to be seized. So it was worth it, bringing both of them back to an even footing where they were both struggling for breath and neither of them was on their feet. Except, that MMA experience paying off again, Alicia was the one on top.

So that was something. And she’d got an idea about Jesse’s ground game too. The blonde clearly knew a bit about it, her forearms up to shield her face from Alicia’s fists, her legs braced and ready to try and throw her off if she got the chance. She wasn’t wasting her energy trying right now either – though, if she’d tried, she’d likely have regretted it one way or another when she found herself in the big redhead’s guard.

As it was, punching away at those blocking arms wasn’t going to do her much good. That said, she still had some options. Putting those arms there was keeping Jesse’s head safe from strikes but it was also pinning them in place, effectively.

Alicia threw a couple of half-hearted forearms at that guard, looking for a chance to grab the blonde’s wrists, before she slid up into high mount – both to defend against Jesse just sliding out as she moved up and to corral the other fighter for what she had in mind next. She was looking to roll them both over, simultaneously figure-fouring her legs around Jesse’s upper body right under her armpits.

That wouldn’t really be a choke and, while it wouldn’t be pleasant (for which read incredibly painful), even Alicia’s crushing thighs would struggle to submit anyone like that. But it’d trap Jesse’s arms up high and, once she’d got the scissor bit in place, Alicia could start looking for the armbar. First things first, though…

Jesse instinctively turned her head while the forearms came down and smacked into her guard. The impacts stung a little, but it was clear Alicia wasn’t putting everything she had into her strikes here. Why was that?

Was Alicia just toying with her? Not likely. Or at least, Jesse didn’t think so. For all she knew Alicia could have a mountainous ego, but she didn’t seem like the type who held back just to taunt her foe. This girl was smart and methodical. Perhaps she was looking for an opening in Jesse’s guard? Yes and no, as she was about to learn.

It didn’t seem Alicia was looking to try to bash her face in after all. But once the girl had a hold of Jesse’s wrists and slid forward on her, the blonde had a better idea of what was going on, and it sent a twinge of worry through her. Alicia wasn’t playing the ground and pound game. She was looking for better positioning to pick her apart from. And with 160 lbs sitting on Jesse’s chest while her arms were rendered practically useless, it seemed Alicia had found it.

“Shit!” Jesse muttered through grit teeth while trying to pull her hands out of Alicia’s clutches. She pushed against the mat with her feet in an attempt to push her foe over, but by then her effort hardly mattered. Alicia was already rolling over while her legs coiled themselves around Jesse’s ribcage.

“Ngh! Fuck!” she cursed as Alicia’s powerful legs constricted against her ribs. Fortunately the bones in her upper body offered some extent of protection. At least, the pain wasn’t quite as excruciating as a typical body scissor secured around her stomach might be. But the pressure Alicia’s mighty legs were applying to Jesse’s ribs was still quite painful. And with her foe still holding onto her wrists, the blonde was going to have a hard time escaping before this could get even worse.

She tried to control her breath and avoid panicking, and focused on patiently trying to squirm her arms out of her foe’s grasp, while her legs lightly kicked around behind her to try to gauge her distance from the ropes. As long as Alicia’s hands were full, there was hardly any reason for Jesse to guard her face, especially with Jesse’s arms practically stuck in place like this. She had virtually no way of fighting back at the moment, so she just hoped the ropes would be close enough for salvation if things started to take an even worse turn soon.

It was actually pretty considerate of Jesse to make things easier for Alicia, as far as rolling her over was concerned. It was actually one of the big advantages of her fighting style so far – people were so sure that being on top was the best place to be that they practically rolled themselves into her guard.

Bet the blonde was regretting that choice right now, with those muscular legs squeezing her ribcage like a python.

Jesse probably wasn’t the only one confused by what the redhead was up to, the crowd audibly uncertain too. Even for someone with Alicia’s monstrous lower body strength, there was almost no way she’d be able to get a submission here. And, with both arms in the hold, she couldn’t even go for the triangle choke, which is what it almost looked like she was doing. Sure, the blonde had to be hurting with the pressure pounding into her ribs, but anyone who got into a Friction ring and couldn’t take this really shouldn’t be in a Friction ring.

So what was she up to?

Jesse – and the watching audience – were about to find out. In sudden, rapid succession, Alicia first surrendered her grip on the other striker’s left wrist to reinforce her grip on the right arm. Then the mixed martial artist threw herself back, simultaneously arching her back and pushing her hips up, in an attempt to score the armbar while still putting as much pressure as she could on that upper body.

It left her opponent a free arm but, given the limited range of movement, it ought to make throwing any meaningful punches pretty tricky. A bit like the armbar would, if she could hold it for long.