Chloe Bennet vs Troian Bellisario (Bantamweight Title)

Troian Bellisario vs. Chloe Bennet (Unified Bantamweight Championship)
(Words: Front Street / Results: Lookout!)

BEFORE:

Nothing much you can say about this one other than the fact that it matches, arguably, the two best bantamweights in the world, number one contender and former champion Troian Bellisario and current champion Chloe Bennet. And, it's clear that both fighters have plenty of respect for the fighter who'll be in the opposite corner.

"Look at the girls Chloe's beaten," says Troi. "Benoist, Kosarin, Chopra, Bush, Michalka, VanCamp. Those are some pretty nice trophies for the wall. You've got to be special to be able to beat girls like those. But. Lilly and Mack and Munn and Wilde and Dushku and Ridley and Mitchell and Holt and Danes. You've got to be even BETTER to beat girls like those. And, I am."

"Troi's as good as anyone I've ever fought," says Chloe. "No question about that. So. I'll have to bring the A+ game tonight. And, fortunately, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

ROUND ONE:

Mutual respect carries over into round one. Tactical stuff in the first stanza, with both ladies doing recon and being very, very careful of walking into any traps. Instead, Troi is all long-limbed, using the jab to harass Chloe. She's not following up on it, much, just popping it out there, getting it in Bennet's face, making the champ work to avoid it. For her part, the Front Streeter's willing to work at range. She's doing a little angling to offset Bellisario's reach advantage, but, aside from a bit of body work here and there, it's also mostly the jab from the champion. Going into the final thirty seconds, there's not much in it, but, neither fighter makes a play for the points. Both continue the feeling out process right to the bell that ends the first three minutes. When it rings, it's very close, but Chloe's body work makes enough of a difference to give the champ the points and the 10-9 lead.

ROUND TWO:

Same again. Ladies seem to like the terms. There's more aggression now, though, as both brunettes are settling in, beginning to get the lay of the land. More right hand follows this stanza, more hard leather landing, and more work in general. But, the terms remain the same, Troi using the length and the jab to harass Bennet. Bennet trying to angle past the defenses to get to where she can get her offense going. A little body work from Chloe, but, the rest is all upstairs. And, once again, there's very little in it the entire way. Both fighters are scoring well and neither can gain much of an advantage. Again, the last thirty seconds would seem to be there for an effort to steal points, but both fighters have too much respect for the other to try that. Instead, they continue boxing right to the bell, and, when it rings, Bellisario's claimed it narrowly and evened the fight at 19.

ROUND THREE:

BOOM! Right off the bat. BOOM! Less than ten seconds in, Troi walks Chloe into a beautiful straight right hand and BENNET IS HURT! Chloe wobbles, nearly goes down, and Bellisario goes all in. Challenger letting the hands go, battering the champion around the ring. Bennet in a high guard, trying to stabilize, but she's too wobbly and Troi is too aggressive. Bellisario's training the big guns on a retreating Chloe and getting a ton of shot landing on the decks of the S.S. Bennet. With nearly half the round still to go, Chloe's trapped on the ropes, and Troi begins emptying the magazines, throwing everything she has at the wounded champion trying to finish this thing off. She's seen "Chloe Bennet: Comeback Kid" before, and has no intention of sitting through it again. But, try as she might, Troi can't finish, and, at the bell, it's Bellisario wide and now up 29-28, but the champion is still standing.

ROUND FOUR:

Bellisario right after Bennet. Again, she's well aware of the champion's recuperative powers, and she's not trying to let her use them. Instead, Troi's all OVER Chloe, winging away with both hands, damning torpedoes, determined to find the 'off' switch. BOOM! DOWN GOES CHLOE! Bennet dropped to her back by a classic one-two, a stiff left jab and a brilliantly timed follow on right hand. Troi quickly to a neutral corner to watch and wait. Bennet glassy-eyed looking at the referee as he counts. At five, the champion rolls to her belly. At seven, she pushes to hands and knees. And, at nine, she's on her feet. Referee gives her the mandatory, clearly thinking about it, but he waives Troi forward. Bellisario throws a buzz saw of leather at Chloe, pouring on the punishment, driving the champ to the ropes again and letting her have it with both hands. Bennet hanging on, jabbing back here and there, running clock, trying to get to the bell. And, somehow, she does. It's a 10-8 round for Troi, who's now up 39-36 and has to be plenty pleased with the state of Bennet's legs as the champion wobbles back to her corner.

ROUND FIVE:

Chloe goes to the ropes immediately. She's got no legs, so she's going into the pocket. And, if anyone wonders if she's spent any time working on this with Britney Spears, the next three minutes prove that she absolutely has. For Troi's part, she's clearly surprised by this turn of events, as Bennet's never done this before, but, you don't get to be a champion like Troian Bellisario without being able to adjust on the fly. And, that's what the challenger does. Cue "Siege of Chloe Bennet". Troi gets the jab working and begins trying to break down the champion's defenses. Chloe, meanwhile, is all about the counter. She's filling every opening Troi creates with one of her own punches with sharp, accurate leather. Troi has the better of things early, but, as the round goes on, Bennet's landing more and more, and it's harder and harder shot as her legs begin coming around. Bennet can't quite make up the stagger though. It's Troi's round close, and Bellisario's lead is now 49-45 at the half.

ROUND SIX:

Bennet back to moving. Legs are back under her now, and she wants to engage in open canvas. Troi's fine with that, so we go right back to the terms we saw in the first two rounds, with Bellisario using the long jab to set up right hand follows and Chloe angling to close the distance enough to offset Troi's reach advantage. And, just like in the first two rounds, this one is close all the way, as you'd expect with both fighters able to get some of what they want, but not nearly as much of it as they want. Down the stretch, though, things change. Facing a large deficit on the cards, Bennet has to gamble. She begins stepping to and getting physical with Troi in an effort to grab the points. And, it works. Again, Bellisario is surprised by the change of tactics. She gets tossed over to the defensive, and spends most of the final sixth covering up as Bennet throws flurry after flurry. At the bell, Chloe's claimed it close and cut the lead to 58-55 with four rounds to go.

ROUND SEVEN:

Bennet's right back at Troi, crowding her, getting aggressive and physical with her. Bellisario adjusts quickly, moving, getting the jab going, but Bennet undeterred. She's down and she knows it. She's going to take some chances now. BOOM! Another classic one-two, this one a left hook to the body and a right to the head and TROI'S HURT! Bellisario staggered and quickly driven before a determined Bennet offensive. Champ forces the challenger back to the ropes and GOES. TO. WORK. It's body initially, with Troi's guard high, but Chloe works up, starts splitting the gloves with jabs, using the resultant head snap to bang rights in behind the guard. Challenger in deep trouble by the late stages. Ref looking in closely, appearing ready to pounce at any second, but Bellisario hangs on, does just enough to make the bell. It's Chloe wide in the seventh, but, Troi's still standing and leading 67-65.

ROUND EIGHT:

Bennet keeping the pressure on. Troi wobbly, and the champion knows it. She also knows what can happen if she lets the challenger off the hook. So, she does everything she can to keep her there. Bennet's forward behind the left, sitting down on punches, throwing heavy leather with both hands. Troi trying to manage, working the jab, moving as well as her legs will allow. Until a straight right from Bennet sends her knees to quaking and a follow on left hook DROPS BELLISARIO TO HER BACK! Chloe to a neutral corner as the referee begins the count. Troi near enough to the ropes to begin pulling herself up. Manages to make it to her feet at seven. Ref looks closely during the mandatory, but waives Chloe forward. And, ON COMES BENNET! Champion winging away with everything in the arsenal, staggers Troi along the ropes with a right, then rocks her world with a left hook. Bellisario out on her feet and THE REF STEPS IN! It's OVER! And, your winner by TKO8 and STILL Unified Bantamweight Champion is Chloe Bennet!

AFTER:

Another huge win for Bennet, who can only shake her head in the post-fight. "Like I said, she's as good as anyone I've ever fought. There's nothing she doesn't do well, and she makes absolutely everything hard for you. And, she made it very, very hard for me. But, I brought the A+ game, just like I promised. And, when I do that, even Troian Bellisario doesn't have enough to beat me."