Tale of the Tape:
Romee Strijd:
Age: 25
Height: 5'11
12-10 (12KOs)
Vs
Antje Utgaard:
Age: 26
Height: 5'10
26-10 (25KOs)

(Lioness Club vs The Fighting Academy)

(Written by Girls Friday/Results by Lookout!)

Intro:
Up next are two beautiful blonde models wanting to end the tournament on the right foot, Romee has surprised some by having a chance to finish in a solid fourth place, Antje meanwhile right now holds the crown for most disappointing performance in the tournament considering she was an outright favourite with Camille Kostek to win the entire tournament, she could finish second last after tonight.

Romee has beaten Danielle Herrington, Damaris Lewis and Bridget Regan in her six fights so far, some saw her as low as bottom two herself, while others had her as a dark horse to even win the event, so Romee can't be too upset if she finishes with four wins out of seven.

Antje on the other hand has only defeated Bridget Regan, which if there is any comfort for her coming out this tournament, that win stops her coming last, the fact people saw her as a possible winner has led some people to question if she has always been hype, which is unfair considering the field of fighters she had to fight.

Before the contest both stunners met at the press event, with Romee wearing a red dress to Antje's white, both women squared up nose to nose, hands on hips at the center of the ring, Antje heard to tell Romee "don't think I have forgotten what your manager has said about me, I am going to enjoy taking it out on you" as Romee smirks as she fires back "bring it" security quick to make sure we don't have two catfights back to back on stage intervenes to keep them apart to disappointed groans from the crowd.

After taking a moment to cool off, Romee goes to the podium to talk to the press, she says "I am so pleased I have proven some of my doubters wrong during this tournament, I know I wasn't supposed to win much considering the field of fighters but you can never count me out, unlike my opponent here" making Antje's cheeks turn red as her fists are clenched.

"Hopefully this tournament is my gateway to having more big fights, I feel ready for greater challenges and hell maybe I can get a title shot at the end of the year after chasing the spotlight for the past two years" Romee finishes with as she steps away from the podium, waving Antje to bring it as she sees she got under her opponent's skin.

Shutting her eyes and taking a deep breath, Antje goes to the podium not looking one bit happy, telling the crowd 'I've heard all the talk that I have failed miserably in this tournament, that I am a fraud, that Front Street was right to kick me to the curb, trust me all those things hurt like hell, Romee can question me all she likes as her stupid manager does, I am a fighter! You'll see that Romee when I knock you out and shut the hype surround you down" giving Romee a middle finger salute with her right hand to tell her she is number one to her or maybe not... Antje struts off the stage looking like she has more of a purpose to win this fight then simply her own pride.

Fight night in Madison Square Garden, first out is Romee with coach Mel B behind her, the Dutch model looks like she is walking the catwalk with her gorgeous smile, arms out at her side as she wears a violet sports bra, matching trunks, shoes and gloves, her hair tied into a ponytail as she gets cheers from her fans.

Getting into the ring, Romee fist bumps Melanie as she promises to put down Antje for her, shadow boxing as the Romee chants begin, judging by the amount of Holland flags in the crowd her home support has travelled well to see this important night for her.

Antje heads through the curtain now with coach Kelly Hu beside her, she bangs her gloves together as she bounces on her toes, wearing a red sports bra with "cubbies" written in white letters across the front, red trunks with three white stripes down each side, red gloves and shoes as her hair is braided.

Climbing through the ropes into the ring, she heads to the middle as she poses with her arms flexed, showing off her biceps as she stares down Romee, then heads to her corner as Kelly tells her to finish the tournament strong so they can show the world that she is far from done as a contender.

Referee waves the fighters together at the middle of the ring, eyes lock as they touch foreheads, referee needing to nudge them apart as they are warned to listen to instructions, the fighters nod but when it comes to a touch of gloves for respect, neither does so as they turn on their heels to return to the corners, once back the bell rings to start 10 rounds of welterweight action.

Round 1:
At the bell both women move towards the center of the ring, trading stiff jabs as Romee moves around on her toes, Antje stepping in with her jab as she looks to push back the Dutch model, Antje just missing with some cross punches as Romee leans out the way in time then counters.

A left digs into the abs of Romee then a right cross catches the chin, Antje getting in closer to Romee starting off a fiery exchange as Strijd tries to give Antje a taste of her power, not a good move as Utgaard slams in two cross punches that turn the head of Romee.

Who finds herself having to shell up as Antje presses her onto the ropes, throwing in hooks to the body of Romee, Antje is barking in effort, swinging with her hips as it's clear she wants to make her rival suffer, leading to Romee clinching up to force an early respite.

Broken apart with less then a minute to go, Romee doubles up her jab as she peppers the cheeks of Antje, keeping the powerhouse at range as she slips some more bigger punches, countering Utgaard with cross punches of her own that get her corner smiling.

Those smiles disappear when Romee is caught again to the body, an overhand right lands to the side of her head to make Strijd groan out, pressed into a corner as seconds tick away, Romee looks happy when the bell rings, Antje looking all business tonight as she aims to prove her talents.

Round 2:
Romee is doubling and tripling her jab up, not wanting to let the strong Antje get at her, Antje tighten her guard up as she is definitely thinking more about how to close the distance, throwing more jabs herself as she stalks after her mobile opponent.

Closing Romee towards a corner, Antje lands two cross punches after a jab to the jaw of her opponent, she pushes her head down as she tries to crowd her, Romee hanging onto Antje's right arm to stop her unleashing, forcing the referee to step in again.

Once broken apart Romee is back on the move, keeping Antje at bay as she shows her impressive footwork, Antje mostly landing straight punches to the abs and cheeks of Romee, a frustrated look starting to show on Antje's face as she can't unload as she wants.

Late in the round Antje uses her left forearm to push back Romee, finally she is able to crowd her onto the ropes, the Lioness fighter grunting out as she gets clipped with hooks, trying to fight off the ropes this time as the crowd cheers them on, heads grinding as the referee warns both to watch their heads.

At the bell Romee looked much stronger this round, heading to her corner with a smiling Mel waiting for her, across the ring Antje takes a drink as Kelly tells her to be more urgent with her attacks, she is letting Romee escape too much.

Round 3:
Like the last round Romee is keeping Antje at range very well, making her rival blonde miss as she leans out the way of cross punches, reddening up the cheeks of the American, Romee looking great on the move as Antje is struggling to trap her.

Getting in closer Antje lands a left to the chin of Romee, then a right into her chest, making Romee grit her mouthpiece as she gets pressed onto the ropes, digging into the body of the Dutch star to make her groan out, making it hard for Romee to get off the ropes.

Nudging back Antje with a left to her face, Romee slips away from the ropes after Antje throws a right hook that goes sailing over her head, Romee then lands a double jab/straight combo to snap back the head of the Fight Academy star, getting back on her bike.

As the round goes into its final minute Antje is starting to close the ring off more, cracking in some hard shots across the face of Romee, who is landing more digging punches into her face in reply, till Antje lands a jab followed by an uppercut that knocks back Strijd to her heels.

On the ropes goes back Romee in the final seconds of the round, with Antje banging away at her abs, causing Romee to groan with each clean hit, at the bell rings Antje bangs her gloves together, wanting to keep on Romee when she has her pinned down, Romee nodding to Mel as she sits down, knowing she needs to keep on point or Antje will hurt her.

Round 4:
Drilling in straight punches as Antje looks to get into the face of Romee quicker, Romee slamming in some good punches that causes some blood to trickle from the nose of Utgaard, getting her more riled up as they box around the ring.

Dipping down under a jab, Antje uses her left shoulder to bump back Romee before landing an overhand right to the side of Romee's head, she presses Strijd onto the ropes as she lands in two uppercuts that knock sweat off the head, Romee pulling Antje into a clinch again as Antje tries to break free herself, referee breaks them up.

Romee gets going again with her jab, trying to keep off the ropes as she causes some more claret to flow from the nose of her opponent, taking some stiff shots into her cheeks as she can't shake Antje as easily as she has the last two rounds.

Leading to Antje slipping a jab to pound in a left hook to the ribs then a right into the chest, that makes Romee grunt out as she ends up getting knocked back towards the ropes again, Antje keeping her aimed towards them as she doesn't crowd Romee, instead working at midrange so she can land more harder shots around the guard of her rival to knock sweat off her.

When the bell rings Antje returns to her stool with a smile on her face, enjoying getting to pound Romee after being kept at range, even as she winces getting her nose patched up, Romee meanwhile tapping her cheeks as she looks upset at herself for not being able to keep Antje at bay.

Round 5:
Antje is starting to bully her way past the jab of Romee to get to the inside, banging in more punches to the abs to try to slow down her mobile opponent, who is clipping her across the face with her right to try to ward back Utgaard.

Taking the middle of the ring, Antje is landing some digging punches straight through the mitts of Romee to snap her head back, looking more assured as she controls the opening minute in dominant fashion to get her supporters chanting her name.

Romee times her counter attack well as she slips a straight to bang in two rights under the ribs of Antje to make her groan, then clips a left across the nose of the American to start her nose bleeding again, causing Antje to cry out and shove her back looking down right pissed off.

Both fighting in close as Antje gets right into the face of Romee, both landing spiteful looking punches around the others waistband and a few punches around to kidneys as the referee warns them to keep the action clean, Antje soon has Romee back on the ropes as she digs in two uppercuts to the toned body of Strijd to make her grimace.

The round comes to a close with Antje looking like she is starting to wear down Romee with sheer power, though that nose is still bothering her as her corner crew work on it, Mel in the opposite corner giving Romee a pep talk as her fighter looks concerned, she nods after the speech as they share a fist bump.

Round 6:
It looks like Romee has found a spring in her step again as she boxes around Antje, who is trying to cut off the ring but is eating some hard counters, one slams across her nose to make Antje cry out, HER RIGHT GLOVE GOES TO COVER IT AS A LEFT HOOK SLAMS ONTO HER CHIN, ANTJE STUMBLES BACK A STEP WITH ROMEE QUICK AS A FLASH STEPPING IN WITH AN UPPERCUT THAT SNAPS UTGAARD'S HEAD BACK AND SENDS HER TO HER BACK!

The Lioness corner jump for joy as they see Romee flex her arms, referee nudging her to the neutral corner so the count can begin, 1...2...3... Antje looks glassy eyed as she is starting at the lights, 4...5...6... Turning to her right side as blood runs from her nose to the canvas, 7...8... Antje isn't moving anymore as 9....10 she is counted out!

Winner Romee Strijd KO Round 6

After:
Romee survives the onslaught that was coming her way the last two rounds to get the win, she mounts the bottom ropes of the corner she is in, arms raised as the crowd stands to applaud and some whistle for her as she is looking mighty proud of knocking out Utgaard.

Who is slowly helped to sit up by Kelly, Antje's nose is worked on as she sheds a few tears, she so badly wanted to shut up the critics, punish Romee and show there is light at the end of the tunnel after this tournament, she failed on all accounts as she is down once again wondering where it all went wrong.

Jogging back to her corner now, Romee is greeted by a big hug from Melanie, who tells her "that was brilliant! She won't forget that combo anytime soon" making Romee grin like a Cheshire cat, Romee sits on her stool getting cleaned up with Mel praising her for tonight and her performance during the tournament.

Antje meanwhile is helped out the ring as she can't stomach seeing Romee happy, her head is down as she has to live with the fact she went from being a favourite to win this tournament to finishing in seventh place out of eight fighters, only her win over Bridget Regan saves her from taking last place.

Back in the ring Romee gets her hand raised by the referee, she is jumping for joy smiling to the crowd as this is a big moment for her, she was written off as being one of the also runs before a punch had been thrown and now she has finished fourth with four wins out of seven.

She goes on a lap of honour applauding the crowd as they chant her name, Melanie even applauds her herself as she looks proud of her fighter, wiping a tear of joy from her right eye as she knows all the hard work Romee has put in to make it this far, with plenty more to come it seems.

Leaving the ring together, it will be interesting to see what Romee does now as she moves forwards, she could maybe go back to the BBU as she beat the champion Damaris Lewis there in this tournament or maybe she pushes straight on here towards the FCBA title, the path has opened right up for her.