POW: Mixed Martial Arts Action

[maddog1981]

Lawless Report #8: 04/03/2122

We're about a week away from the next POW PPV. I'll be going over my picks for the show in this report but first let's get into some POW news.

President Prodigy announced a few days ago that Morgana (2-1) will be challenging POW Women's Champion Xenia (2-0) for the belt. I think this is an interesting match-up. Morgana can go toe to toe with Xenia on her feet and is probably slightly better on the ground. It will be interesting to see how Xenia responds to having an equal in the octagon with her.

It was also announced that Rubicon will be challenging POW Super Heavyweight Champion Gunnar later on this spring. I'm very excited for this match. Rubicon's only loss came at the hands of a cut he suffered at the hands of Hanuman during the tournament. I've felt all along that Rubicon is without a doubt the best super heavyweight in the POW today. I think Gunnar should be extremely worried about holding onto his championship belt.

With those two items out of the way, let's get to the picks:

Super Heavyweight Match:
Puma 1-1 vs. Hadrian 0-0
Hadrian finally makes his MMA debut for the POW. I think Puma takes this one easily. He's going to get Hadrian up against the cage and just pound away at him. Hadrian is known primarily as a tag team guy in pro wrestling and I just don't see his skills translating to MMA. My Pick: Puma

Women's Match:
Latasha 1-1 vs. Rhiannon 2-1
I haven't really figured Latasha out yet. She looks clueless in there sometimes and other times she's looked like a savvy fighter. I do know one thing though; Rhiannon is good. She's very good. She made it to the final of the title tournament and was only derailed by a Xenia that looks unstoppable right now. I think Rhiannon is going to cruise to a victory here. My Pick: Rhiannon

Cruiserweight Match:
Brainstorm 1-1 vs. Euritar 2-1
Euritar has been a real surprise on the MMA side of the POW. He was a real question mark but seems to have taken to MMA really well. I think he's going to eventually be the POW Cruiserweight Champion. I think he continues his winning ways in this match. My Pick: Euritar

Heavyweight Match:
Cypher 1-2 vs. Taurine 0-2
This one isn't even a question. Cypher has had some struggles but he's an elite level fighter in the POW. Taurine on the other hand has shown no level of competence in MMA. Cypher easily takes this one. My Pick: Cypher

Cruiserweight Match:
Stigma 1-1 vs. Quetzal 0-1
This is another one that isn't even close. Stigma is one of the best cruiserweight fighters in the galaxy. I think he makes short work of Quetzal as he continues working his way to a shot at POW Cruiserweight Champion Ahnu. My Pick: Stigma

Heavyweight Match:
Jack of Diamonds 1-1 vs. Mike Fortune 0-2
Mike Fortune has been a real disappointment since the MMA part of the POW started. I thought he was going to make some noise in the heavyweight division but he's been a total dud so far. Jack on the other hand has look surprisingly decent for an older wrestler. I think Jack surprises a lot of fans and takes out Fortune. My Pick: Jack of Diamonds

Cruiserweight Match:
Crucible 1-1 vs. Thayne 3-1
Crucible shocked the galaxy with his victory over Pendekar at the last POW PPV. It was a great win for Crucible but let's be honest here, it was a fluke. Crucible is not going to be a player in the cruiserweight division but Thayne is. Thayne can be a top 3 fighter with a little luck. Thayne is going to get the win here. My Pick: Thayne

Heavyweight Match:
Excalibur 1-1 vs. Absalom 1-2
This is an interesting one if you ask me. Absalom hasn't shown a lot of skill at fighting but he's shown that he can use his strength and grind out a victory. Excalibur has shown that he has some decent skills out there. I think Excalibur will pick up the victory here as he's just an overall better fighter than Absalom. My Pick: Excalibur

POW Cruiserweight Title Match:
Ahnu (c) 4-0 vs. Zed Marlowe 2-1
I'm going to be frank here. Zed Marlowe is not championship material in MMA right now. He's shown some really good skills but he just isn't there yet. Ahnu on the other hand has shown himself to be the real deal. He's defeated a lot of top fighters on his way to the belt. I think Ahnu retains against a Zed that isn't ready to be a top level fighter. My Pick: Ahnu

POW Heavyweight Title Match:
Shylock (c) 3-0 vs. Saboteur 3-1
It's only been a few months since their last battle. I don't know if anything has changed since then to cause a different outcome. I think Shylock will retain his belt here. My Pick: Shylock

Till next time POW fans...

[maddog1981]

POW #2: Grudge Match: 04/10/2122

Super Heavyweight Match:
Hadrian 1-0 KOs Puma 1-2 with a head and arm outside leg sweep

Lawless Report: Puma and Hadrian fought most of this match in the clinch. Puma hit a few knee shots to the chin before Hadrian locked on a guillotine choke. Hadrian got the KO victory when he caught Puma with a head and arm outside leg sweep.

Women's Match:
Rhiannon 3-1 submits Latasha 1-2 with a triangle arm choke

Lawless Report: Rhiannon dominated this match. She pounded Latasha with mounted strikes on the ground and knee strikes in the clinch. Latasha briefly had the advantage here and there but Rhiannon was quick to regain the upper hand. The ending came when Rhiannon locked on a triangle arm choke and Latasha was forced to tap out.

Cruiserweight Match:
Euritar 3-1 KOs Brainstorm 1-2 with a clinch and knees to ribs and chin

Lawless Report: Brainstorm stood toe to toe with Euritar and got him down after a barrage of hard shots. Brainstorm went for the arm triangle choke but Euritar managed to slip loose and got things standing again. Euritar got Brainstorm in the clinch and hit a big back suplex. Brainstorm never came back from this move as Euritar locked on a knee bar and then used some punches from the mount position. Euritar let him up and got him in the clinch and then earned the KO with knees to the ribs and chin.

Heavyweight Match:
Cypher 2-2 KOs Taurine 0-3 with a looping left hand

Lawless Report: Cypher threw a looping left hand that almost finished the match in seconds. Taurine's only offense in this match was almost locking Cypher in a sloppy rear naked choke. Otherwise the match was all Cypher. He wore Taurine down with a crossface and an anaconda choke. Things went back to standing and Cypher finished Taurine off with a looping left hand to earn the KO victory.

Cruiserweight Match:
Stigma 2-1 KOs Quetzal 0-2 with a double leg pick up and slam

Lawless Report: Stigma punished Quetzal with some dirty boxing and the used a double leg pick up to slam him to the mat. Stigma went for a triangle arm bar but Quetzal managed to escape the attempt. They went back into the clinch and Stimga hit a second double leg pick up and slam but this time it was enough to earn him toe KO victory.

Heavyweight Match:
Mike Fortune 1-2 KOs Jack of Diamond 1-2 with a crucifix and punches

Lawless Report: JoD tried to take it to the mat early but Fortune walked the cage and flipped over on top. He pummeled JoD with a series of fists and then used a crucifix and punches to earn the KO victory.

Cruiserweight Match:
Thayne 4-1 KOs Crucible 1-2 with an uppercut

Lawless Report: Thayne ducked a left hook and blasted Crucible with an uppercut to earn the KO victory.

Heavyweight Match:
Absalom 2-2 TKOs Excalibur 1-2 with punches and elbows to head

Lawless Report: Excalibur and Absalom traded control on the ground all match. Absalom finally got things standing and caught Excalibur with a roundhouse kick. Excalibur fell to the mat and Absalom jumped on top with punches and elbows to the head. The referee jumped in because Excalibur's left eye had swollen shut. The doctor came in and declared that Excalibur's vision was too impaired to continue and awarded the TKO victory to Absalom.

POW Cruiserweight Title Match:
Ahnu (c) 5-0 KOs Zed Marlowe 2-2 with a rolling backfist

Lawless Report: Ahnu KOs Zed with a single rolling backfist. This match lasted for a matter of seconds.

Main Event:
POW Heavyweight Title Match:
Shylock (c) 4-0 KOs Saboteur 3-2 with a single leg takedown

Lawless Report: Shylock and Saboteur kept this one standing for most of the fight. Saboteur took it to the ground at one point and really showed that he was a much stronger ground performer. Shylock got things standing again and caught Saboteur with a single leg takedown that was enough to get the KO victory.

[maddog1981]

Lawless Report #9: 04/11/2122

With another POW PPV in the bag it's time to analyze the winners and losers of the last show. Let's see who our big winners were.

WINNERS:

Shylock: Shylock makes first first successful defense of his championship belt and also firmly plants himself as the king of the heavyweight division. He's now defeated Saboteur twice and probably won't have to face him for quite some time. It's looking like Shylock is going to be holding that belt for a very long time.

Ahnu: Anytime you can end a fight and take no damage in the process is an automatic win in my books. Ahnu is now 5-0 in POW and looking like he's just on a level above everyone else.

Euritar: Is now 3-1 in POW and has firmly planted himself as a legit contender for the Cruiserweight Championship. Rumor is that he's next in line for a title shot at Ahnu. That would be quite the match if you ask me.

Thayne: Is staying in the hunt as he moves to 4-1 in POW. He's got himself a nice seat ready for a rematch with Ahnu down the line. I wouldn't be surprised to see that match happen sometime this summer.

Stigma: Now a winner of 2 straight matches. He's keeping pace with Euritar and Thayne and keeping himself in the conversation.

LOSERS:

Saboteur: He's now lost to Shylock twice with the belt on the line. The matchmakers don't like that and it's probably going to be a long time until they give Saboteur another shot at that belt.

Puma: Did this guy really just lose to Hadrian? Puma had to win this match to stay in the title hunt. Now he's looking up at Rubicon and he's going to have to win a couple of matches in a row to even get title consideration. This was a really bad time for Puma to lose.

Zed Marlowe: No one really expected Zed to win the belt here. But no one really expected him to get taken out with a single shot either. Zed really needed to go out there and look like he belonged there. He failed to do that and now he's taken a serious blow to his credibility. I doubt we'll see Zed get a title shot anytime soon. He's going to have to win a ton of matches in a row to get future title considerations.

Excalibur: This PPV was supposed to be the coming out party for Excalibur. He was going to show everyone that he was a player in the heavyweight division. Instead he lost to Absalom in pretty brutal fashion.

Coming up in a few weeks there's going to be another Fight Night and there's quite the lineup for the fans. Let's take a look:

Main Event:
POW Women's Championship Match:
Xenia (c) 2-0 vs. Morgana 2-1

Super Heavyweight Match:
Mensar 0-1 vs. Silas 0-2

Heavyweight Match:
Matinee Idol 0-1 vs. Indigo 2-1

Heavyweight Match:
Mad Jester 1-1 vs. Nero 1-2

Cruiserweight Match:
T.K. 0-2 vs. Pendekar 0-2

Women's Match:
Desdemona 0-2 vs. Nano 0-2

Next time around I'll be doing a reader mailbag and also taking a look at how the Cruiserweight division has been shaping up the last few months.

Till next time...

[maddog1981]

The following are clips from various press conferences following the POW #2: Grudge Match PPV:

Euritar: I've been training hard since it was announced that POW was switching to MMA and it's really paid off. I'm 3-1 and I think I should be next in line for a shot at the Cruiserweight Championship.

Zed Marlowe: No one wants to lose that way. I'm really disgusted at how I performed in that match. I really need to go back to the drawing board and figure this MMA thing out.

Stigma: This win gets me back into the thick of the title hunt. I expect I'm still behind Thayne and Euritar for a title shot though. I need to keep winning matches and to remain patient.

Cypher: I'm back on the right track with this victory. Now it's just a matter of getting a win streak going and figuring out how to beat Saboteur.

Mike Fortune: It feels really good to get my first win in MMA.

Excalibur:Losing to injury really sucks.

[maddog1981]

POW Press Conference

President Prodigy and Commissioner Jack Hood are at a giant press table with POW Cruiserweight Champion Ahnu and POW Super Heavyweight Champion Gunnar. There are also two empty seats. Prodigy walks to the podium.

Prodigy: Thank you all for coming today. I would like to announce that the next POW PPV will be talking place on the 28th of May. It will be called Proving Ground and there will be two title matches on the card and eight other matches.

Lawless: How many matches are you going to be announcing today?

Prodigy: I will be announcing the two title matches today. With that said, let's start with the Cruiserweight Title match. We had a difficult time choosing the challenger for this match. There were a number of men worthy of getting a title shot. But we ultimately went with our choice because we felt that he had been a little more impressive as of late. Your challenger for the Cruiserweight Championship... EURITAR...

Euritar enters the room and walks up to the podium.

Lawless: How does it feel to be getting the next shot at the title?

Euritar: I'm excited for the opportunity that Prodigy and Jack Hood have given me. I've been training really hard at MMA and I feel like I'm ready to be an elite level cruiserweight in the POW.

Lawless: Ahnu, it seems you've got a really tough opponent. Are you worried?

Ahnu: I'm 5-0 in the POW and I just took out Zed Marlowe with a single punch. I don't have a single concern for this match. Euritar is a much better opponent but he's still going to fall to Ahnu.

Prodigy returns to the podium.

Prodigy: It should be an exciting matchup. I think both men are fairly evenly matched. With that said, let's move on to the Super Heavyweight Championship. Our choice here was much more obvious. There was really only one man in the division that is in a position to challenge for the belt currently. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... RUBICON!

Rubicon enters the room. He stands towards the back and just stares a hole right through Gunnar.

Lawless: Gunnar, are you worried about having such a feared opponent in your next match?

Gunnar: Rubicon... is a lot to handle. I think I can defeat him but it's going to take everything I know to beat him. I can't think of anyone in the POW that would be a tougher opponent than Rubicon.

Prodigy returns to the podium.

Prodigy: I would also like to announce two heavyweight matches for the PPV. Cypher will be taking on Nero and Saboteur will be facing Nero. Thank you all for your time today and remember to join us on the 28th of May.

[maddog1981]

Just a note to readers. If you want to be part of a Trent Lawless mailbag, just PM me with questions and I'll work them in if they apply.