Ryan blew out a hard breath, realizing he was stuck under a forty-five-year-old mother who wasn't even breathing heavily. He tried to bridge explosively to clear her weight, but Angela simply transitioned her hips, floating effortlessly over his effort and taking side control with surgical precision.
When the timer beeped, Ryan was flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling lights, breathing hard while Angela casually stood up, offering him a hand to help him rise.
"Time," Michael announced.
Ryan took Angela's hand, his face flushed red as he pulled himself up. He didn't say a word as he stepped back to the edge of the mat, his confident posture completely gone.
Jason Mercer stepped forward immediately, his eyes narrowed. Whatever playfulness had existed minutes ago was entirely erased. He bowed briskly, stepping right into Angela's range.
"Round two," Michael said. "Go."
Jason didn't mess around with light grip fights. He moved aggressively, trying to use rapid footwork to flank Angela and secure a rear waist-lock. He wanted to demonstrate dominance through control.
Angela didn't let him get behind her. She turned on her center axis, matching his footwork stride for stride. When Jason reached out aggressively to grab her collar, she met his elbows with stiff frames, keeping his head and shoulders away from her chest.
"You're fast," Jason muttered through gritted teeth, stepping heavy into an inside trip attempt.
Angela felt the sweep coming through the mat. She lightened her lead leg, letting his foot sweep air, and drove her forearm firmly across his chin, redirecting his upper body. Jason stumbled sideways, forced to post his hand on the floor to avoid falling.
Before he could recover his guard, Angela stepped over his lead leg, trapping his knee between hers in a tight, inescapable low pin. She wasn't using brute force; she was applying pure, unyielding geometry. Every angle Jason tried to exploit was blocked before he could build momentum.
"Lighter," Angela said calmly, feeling Jason's frustration turn into aggressive pushing.
Jason froze for a fraction of a second, remembered Michael's strict rules, and lowered his intensity. But the tactical damage was done. Trapped in a position where his strength was useless, Jason spent the remaining sixty seconds trying to break Angela’s control over his posture, failing to make a single offensive move until the timer chimed.
Derek Sloan stepped onto the mat for the final round. The giant looked at Angela not with amusement, but with profound respect.
"Round three," Michael called out softly.
Derek bowed low. "Let's work," he said quietly.