The two champions both get a fantastic reception, and the crowd are clearly excited to see these two talents squaring off. Sean and Mia touch fists on the bell then start dancing around each other. Mia darts in for a low takedown which Sean fights off. A moment later, Sean goes for a takedown of his own; Mia swings around behind him into a hammerlock. She pushes him to his knees and starts leaning him forward, but Sean fights back and gets back upright. He manages to flip her overhead and floats into a hammerlock of his own, but Mia reverses that with a side headlock into a switch and pulls him up in a kneeling double chickenwing with one knee pressed to the back of his neck. Sean grits his teeth and rolls left and right until he can break past Mia’s leg and catch her with a basement facebuster for the first two count.
As they begin to circle again, Sean and Mia nod to each other with small smiles. They lock up and Mia drops to a sitting position, hooking Sean’s ankles and rolling him back in a controlled monkey flip; she rolls back over him in turn into mount and starts laying in forearm shots. Sean puts up his own to shield himself, and manages to buy the thinking space to wrap his legs around Mia and push her forward into a rana! The ref counts… on the two, Mia reverses and matrixes out into a jackknife pin! Sean rolls his shoulders to collapse the bridge, and both competitors go down in a tangle of limbs. They show mutual respect as they extricate themselves before resuming hostilities.
The match picks up in pace from there, both champions utilising rapid strikes and sudden takedowns to good effect. They trade submission attempts over the course of their battle; Mia with the cloverleaf, Sean with the surfboard. Scott with the bow and arrow, Sands with the sleeper. Neither is willing to quit, and both dig deep to fight their way out of holds. They end up going back to trading holds as each looks for that big slam or strike to force an opening, but no matter what one can come up with, the other has an answer. Sean finds a chance with a rear waistlock reversal into a snapmare, into a chickenwing. But Mia manages to duck through his legs and come up behind him! She goes back to the hammerlock, but Sean blocks it. She changes tack and sends him into the ropes, and as he bounces back, tears him from the mat in a huge Saito suplex that spikes the World Champion right on the top of his head! Despite how much the throw clearly took out of her, Mia rolls over Sean and hooks both legs for the cover… an agonisingly close two point nine that has the entire audience fooled for a second.
Not too long thereafter she scores another off a crescent kick counter to a diving crossbody attempt, while Sean gets one of his own a couple of minutes after that with a ring-shaking second rope powerbomb. The big hits go back and forth, but both the World and Commonwealth Champions keep on kicking out, and the fans are on their feet for both Sands and Scott. Another flurry of rana reversals marks the passing of twenty minutes’ match time. Sean decides it’s time to up the pace, and he gains the upper hand for several minutes with some fast, high-risk strikes and takedowns that the more grounded Mia seems to be having a little trouble dealing with. But that ends when Mia counters a lip buster by smoothly turning it into an STO! The crowd erupts for the reversal, and count along as Mia pins. One… two… another close kickout! That gets a big cheer as well, of course, as the crowd continue to show support to both competitors.
Mia goes for a cross armbar; Sean blocks it and shoves her away, and she hits the ropes. As she bounces back, he leaps up for the Sand Attack, but she anticipates it and pitches forward, rolling him into a snapmare which is followed up with a knee strike to the side of the head. She swings another kick, but he ducks it and reaches up to pull her arm into some kind of legscissors takedown. Mia pulls away and Sean uses the separation to kip up. Mia’s already coming back with another kick; he tries to spin her round for a dragon whip, but she follows through and connects with a roaring knee to the side of his head. He falls sideways, and she pushes over him for the cover. One… two… thre..again, so, so close but Sean somehow finds a way to kick out right at the last moment. She backs up, stomping her foot lightly, looking for the Fulham Broadside… she swings and misses! Sean with the rollup counter! She kicks out on the two but as she stands Sean catches her with the Sand Attack, and with the last of his energy falls across her for the successful cover!
Your winner, Sean Sands!
That was a great back and forth match, with Mia very nearly upsetting the World Champion a few times, but Sean ultimately proving his ability against a top class opponent as he looks ahead to Andrew Karnage in Tokyo.