[We open to an interview studio, with Isaac Cohen, as ever, dressed to the nines in a black suit and red tie, and while last time he was with the Bantamweight Champion, Gianna Howard, she was in a much more casual outfit, today, she’s in a black dress–something she, admittedly, doesn’t look entirely comfortable in. Clearly a conversation has been going on before the recording began, as the Bantamweight Champion’s laughing long before recording begins, but once she becomes aware they’re on camera, she does her best to stifle it.]
ISAAC COHEN: “Ladies and gentlemen, Isaac Cohen here with the Union Grand Prix Bantamweight Champion, Gianna Howard, who puts her belt on the line for the fourth time in just over a year this weekend when she faces Lena Lyons in a battle of two elite strikers at 135 pounds. Gianna, welcome, thank you for joining me.”
GIANNA HOWARD: “Yeah, of course, my pleasure.”
ISAAC COHEN: “Now, before we talk about this weekend, I want to revisit something we talked about before your last title defense against Lilly Dunne: the fact that you like to keep busy–obviously, preparing for five, five round fights in 13 months is a crazy pace. Do you ever start to struggle with any kind of motivation, with this continuous grind like this?”
GIANNA HOWARD: “Motivation? No, not at all. I know what I want, I know what I want to be, so I keep looking toward the next fight. The grind, as you said, can get…a little tedious, maybe, but it pays off. I’ve done more in ten fights in Union than most people will in their entire careers here, so…”
[Gianna shrugs her shoulders, letting the comment trail off.]
GIANNA HOWARD: “I’d say it’s worth it, really. But mostly, yanno, I’ve said this…a lot, I hate just sitting around. Frankly, if anything kills my motivation, it’s having nothing to do, having to wait on…whatever. It’s honestly why I called out the whole damn division after the fight with Lilly, I don’t want to wait on…whatever, Dallas to fight Izzi or Lauren to figure out if her knee’s fucked up again, send me whoever wants it. I figured there’s bound to be somebody who’d stick their hand up and claim a callout to the entire division. Lena claimed it before anyone else did, so…let’s do it.”
ISAAC COHEN: “Speaking of Lena, let’s talk about the lead up to this fight for a second–a lot of pundits, myself included, thought she lost the fight against Rachel Parsons, but it came back as a Split Decision win in her favor; did you watch the fight, and if so, what’s your take? Did you have her winning?”
GIANNA HOWARD: “It was close, I…probably lean toward agreeing with you, I think Rachel did a little more in the first couple rounds to be effective, even in the third she landed a few big shots that had Lena rocking and rolling, but…hey, my opinion doesn’t really matter, I’m not a judge. I’m just the girl throwing out the challenge, and honestly? The what-ifs and the maybes don’t do much for me. Agree or disagree, ask questions, whatever, fact remains it was Lena that got her hand raised, and if she thinks she’s ready to go a couple weeks later, why would I turn that down?”
ISAAC COHEN: “That’s an interesting point, actually, because that wasn’t a fight that she came out of without taking any damage, it was razor-close and Rachel had her hurt a few times in that fight; were you surprised that she was the one to answer that challenge to fight before the end of the year, after the fight she’d just been through?”
GIANNA HOWARD: “A little bit? Let’s be clear, I wasn’t surprised Lena answered the challenge; I feel like she’s been chomping at the bit to get another shot at the belt since that fight with Dallas a couple years back, but her coaches musta given her one hell of a pep-talk to get her ready to go right away like this, for sure. I like to keep busy, I bounced between AWC and Union last year, so I kinda know how she’s feeling right now, jumping literally straight back into camp. It’s a grind, man, and these short rests between fights, especially tough fights like that…it’ll be interesting to see how she handles it.”
ISAAC COHEN: “In this, uh…I dunno if I want to call it a resurgence, but certainly Lena’s been on a great run, winning 6 of her last 7 fights, with only that controversial submission loss to Isabel Azevedo in the middle there, we’ve seen her take on some really talented strikers in the past couple years. Obviously, that’s where you excel as well, is that pretty much what you expect this fight to be?”
GIANNA HOWARD: “Yeah, without a doubt. I don’t think anyone’s expecting anything less than fireworks out of this fight, nobody’s coming in expecting some slick grappling competition between us. Everyone’s looking for a knockout, and…I don’t see any reason I can’t give it to them.”
ISAAC COHEN: “That confident?”
[Gianna laughs, leaning back in her chair as her head rocks backward; she briefly shakes her head at the ceiling before looking back to Isaac.]
GIANNA HOWARD: “Lena’s talented, make no mistake. Like you said, 6 of her last 7 have gone her way, and she’s finished some tough folks in the process. Tapped Yasmine, knocked out Syn and Gibrelle, but…there’s a big difference between fighting them, and fighting me. Those girls are tough, they’re good strikers, they’re dangerous when they’re on, and…yeah, Lena handled them pretty well, no doubt about it. But this fight…yanno, to be blunt about it, I’m a leap in competition from anyone she’s faced recently, even Dallas. Y’all ask about pressure all the time, I think it’s all on her; fighting Blue, fighting Kelsi, fighting Gibrelle, there was no pressure there. But now she’s put herself in that pressure situation, and if she can’t beat me, then she’s lost to every Bantamweight Champion except Zari, which…”
[The Champ shrugs her shoulders.]
GIANNA HOWARD: “On top of that, unless I’m forgetting something, I think she’s lost every title fight she’s ever had. Obviously the one with Dallas, whether you agree with the judging on that fight or not, yanno…ultimately, same thing as the decision against Rachel, fact remains Dallas is the one that got his hand raised that night.”
[Gianna makes her standard pause for effect, grabbing her water bottle from off the ground to take a quick sip before continuing her thought.]
GIANNA HOWARD: “So, to go back to the point I was making? Now, she’s decided to jump at the chance to fight me, she’s gotta prove she can actually beat the best, and, yanno, we’ve never seen her manage to do that. And I don’t think she’s got a great style to try to beat me, either. I’m bigger than her, I think I’m faster than her, and I hit harder than she does, so I don’t think standing up with me is going to go well for her, and, let’s be real, that’s what this fight is going to be. Every advantage on the feet is on my side, and…frankly, if Izzi can’t tap me out, I’m not really afraid of what Lena has on the ground.“
[Isaac seems to know better than to interrupt Gianna when she’s on this kind of tirade, so he just leans back in his seat and lets The Ghost continue after her little momentary pause.]
GIANNA HOWARD: “I’ve said it a lot, Isaac, but I’ll say it again–there’s no doubt in my mind, I’m the best Bantamweight in the world, not just in Union; I think I’m a bad matchup for anybody at 135 pounds, I don’t think there’s anyone on this roster that I can’t put down, and that very much includes Lena Lyons this weekend. I’ve beaten the best this division has, all that’s really left of the top caliber of contenders is Lena, and…this weekend, I think I put another stamp on this division.”
ISAAC COHEN: “Which, that actually leads me to my next question–before your fight with Lilly Dunne, you made a point that you wanted to match Dallas’s title defenses by the end of the year–if you win this fight, it puts you even with him at 4 defenses; so, say we’re in the cage, you’ve just got your hand raised, your fourth defense of the title, and Bodie Sullivan’s asking you what’s next, what do you think? Do you stick around at 135, or are you aiming, maybe, to challenge Paige Holloway at Lightweight?”
GIANNA HOWARD: “Let’s be clear. I don’t want to share anything; I tie Dallas this weekend when I get my hand raised, but I want to be the best, without question, so…Dante and the rest of the 135ers have gotta find me one more challenger before I start thinking about the Lightweight division. I won’t lie and say I haven’t thought about it, though; when I first joined Throne, Paige kinda took me under her wing, she helped me get adjusted to the place, so…it might be fun to see that fight happen, if she can hang on to the belt against whoever she’s up against next, but…like I said, I got a little more business at Bantamweight before I start thinking about that.”
ISAAC COHEN: “Fair enough; well, thank you so much for joining me, good luck against Lena this weekend. Ladies and gentlemen, the Bantamweight Champion, Gianna Howard!”
[Gianna grins and flashes a peace sign to the camera before the scene cuts to black.]