L.A.W. - League of Anime Wrestling

     For months now, Litchi had been furloughed by LAW—one among the many people whom LAW signed yet refused to publicize. This consigned Litchi to a meager lifestyle, one just barely supported by the meager pittance that LAW paid out to her. With no competition to keep her sharp, Litchi's days consisted mainly of light training and academic reading. Being published and credentialed, Litchi was occasionally called in as a peer reviewer for certain academic publications. And, despite her nominal status as a LAW wrestler, Litchi made sure to keep up with developments in her general area. Judging by how poorly her career as a LAW wrestler was going, Litchi figured that a return to academia was imminent. As for the training, it was nothing too extreme: some cardio, strength training, as well as some basic striking and grappling training. Just enough to keep Litchi's skills from going completely rusty, but not enough to keep her sharp enough for competition.
     It was not as if Litchi did not want to compete though. Her situation, however, was a bit of an oddity. Whenever she tried to inquire about receiving a match, she was instead given the run-around, receiving only vague, meaningless justifications. It was almost as if some force outside of her control was robbing her of opportunities.
     After months of inactivity, Litchi had been nearing her wits' end. So it came as a major surprise when LAW finally called her in for a match. Perhaps it will be a hentai match. Or something sensual, Litchi had thought. But no: it was an MMA-style match. Against a woman with about 10cm of height and 15kg on her. The sort of matchup where the odds were stacked against her. Had this occurred at the beginning of her tenure at LAW, Litchi may have politely declined and pushed for something more risqué. However, at that point, Litchi felt like she had no other choice—even if the match was on short notice, it was either this or likely many more months of inactivity.
     So Litchi accepted the match and quickly began watching whatever footage of her opponent that she could find. Her opponent, a Turkish-Korean woman named Beyza Yılmaz, was a formidable opponent; that much was blatant. Her size and physique implied both a range and strength advantage. Although Beyza was definitely a "mixed" martial artist and hence had competency in both striking and grappling, it appeared that Beyza was more adept at grappling than she was at striking.
     Beyza was surely going to be a tough nut to crack. Her superior size would make it difficult to get in, her presumably greater strength would make clinch work difficult, and something told Litchi that Beyza would be more than willing to use her weight advantage on the ground. However, while Litchi was at a disadvantage, she still had some strategies in mind. She would attempt to stay on the outside, making sure to be evasive—hands kept low should facilitate the evasiveness and also potentially aid in catching kicks. Counters, as well as the occasional takedown, should help keep her opponent's respect.
     At least, that was the plan. Litchi was rusty at combat sports after spending five-and-a-half years in a Ph.D. program. Her opponent was clearly quite skilled, and would probably make it difficult for Litchi to execute her game plan.