UGP 57 BEFORE THE WALK: SERENITY HOLMES
HOLMES MMA AND WRESTLING ACADEMY
Houston, Texas
JOHN KARTHAN: “Okay, three-minute rounds of striking sparring. Begin!”
[The Holmes MMA and Wrestling Academy have been flooded with fighters, professional and amateur, along with other athletes training on the black mats inside one of their facilities for open mat work. The camera showed the plethora of talents being supervised by the coaches but head coach, John Karthan, taking place in her father’s stead, Andre Holmes, is on the mat in his black shirt and shorts watching Serenity spar with another fighter of the gym.]
JOHN KARTHAN: “Maintain that distance at all times, she’s going to be barreling down on you.”
[Serenity keeps her distance using her footwork to move away from explosive lunges from her sparring partner. In her southpaw stance, she managed to keep her opponent away from a right step-in jab then jump away from her lead foot to keep the distance. Her eyes are on her opponent at all times but both partners are wearing 16 ounce gloves, shin pads and essential gym wear. Serenity lands a right jab, body right jab followed by a power left hook that drives her partner away.]
JOHN KARTHAN: “TIME!”
[The bell rang from the surround system across the room after the timer completed on the screen. Serenity shook her sparring partner’s hands and she exposed her tongue to the camera as a joke. Another shot came in with Serenity sitting on the edge of the wall in her thirty second break until the next sparring round.]
SERENITY HOLMES: “I love training. I love the thrill of it. I have John, my head coach and other striking coaches, helping me every step of the way. I feel my technique getting better, my strength coming and we have a great game plan for Emma.”
[The second round begins and Serenity becomes aggressive in her counters. Her sparring partner attempts a straight from the orthodox stance but Serenity slips past her arm and lands a right jab to the face followed by a powerful body kick that makes her partner groan. The sparring session continues with both landing a couple of blows until Serenity lands a push kick into her body that causes her to take a knee just before the round ends.]
JOHN KARTHAN: “TIME!”
[The final shot is Serenity helping her partner then giving her a hug until winking at the camera then unwrapping the gloves from her hands in the locker room of the facility.
THE HOLMES RESIDENCE
Houston, Texas
[The scene opens inside a kitchen of a two story house in a gated community. Serenity and her younger sister, Athena, are cooking seared steak, mixed steam vegetables and white rice. Her father is in town, Andre Holmes, and her step-mother, Kaitlyn, who away from the camera can be seen helping her two children, Travis and Dean, in their carriages.]
SERENITY HOLMES: “I always love spending time with my family. It’s very important. We have our days where we get along and days we can be with each other but it’s all love.”
[Serenity is sitting down on the couch watching her previous fights against Tatiana Ruiz and Ronnie Banks along with her family. Her father, on the other hand, leans back into the couch with his arms folded across his chest watching her every move. The camera shows a personal view of Andre.]
ANDRE HOLMES: “My daughter has always been a spit fire. I’ve taught her very well and she’s continuing to show tremendous signs of improvement. I think our team will be very able to coach her into getting her third win at the Union Grand Prix against Emma Hunt.”
[Another shot is Serenity packing up her clothes for her flight tonight in her childhood bedroom with posters of old bands, different wrestlers, fighters and celebrities. Serenity zips up the suitcase and notices the camera scanning the room so she quickly reacts by dragging the camera out and closing the door shut after feeling embarrassed.]
[Before Serenity leaves for her late-night flight, she’s in the backyard practicing her boxing with her father holding the mitts. He gives her combinations to follow and she does in her southpaw stance. Watching from the inside of their living room is Athena Holmes and the camera stays with her to give her a personal touch on their relationship.]
ATHENA HOLMES: “It’s so weird being the younger sister to an actual celebrity. Serenity’s always been the hot head, I’m the quiet one. She always was into sports, activities, adrenaline but I always was the reader, the writer and stuff. I know my sister is going to kick some ass and she will!”
[Serenity begins to say good bye to her family and joins up with her team waiting inside the car to head to the airport to travel to Mexico City. She sits down in the back seat and leans against the window watching the environment outside as she yawns and takes a moment to nap in the car.]
MEDIA DAY
Mexico City, Mexico
AIR HOSTESS: “Thank you for flying with Volaris. We have just landed in Mexico City.”
[Serenity awakens from her sleep in the chair and rubs her eyes. She pulls down on the black hat and fixes her leather jacket to be back on after using it as an impromptu blanket. Her team follows suit in gathering their luggage and another shot is her walking through the airport ready to fall asleep again. At the Verona Hotel, they manage to get their rooms and Serenity settles into her having a nice suite to the point she falls onto the bed and just naps.]
[The next shot is in the morning with Serenity being attended to by a make-up team for media day at the Mexico City Arena. Serenity is having her hair down in a wavy style, a black dress and black heels to be formal and she remains seated in the chair letting the team work.]
SERENITY HOLMES: “We’re having media day. Plan is to have a few interviews at my own booth and then I guess I’ll be seeing Emma later. I don’t know what she has to say or how she’s thinking but I’m ready and I hope she’ll be ready too.
[Inside the Mexico City Arena, media personnel and companies along with fans are interviewing and meeting their fighters. Serenity has her own booth with a stand that says her name, social media handles and a picture of her in the Union Grand Prix. She sits on a high top chair with her legs crossed answering a few questions from different journalists.]
JOURNALIST: “What are your thoughts going into this fight with Emma Hunt?”
SERENITY HOLMES: “I am more than ready. We’ve been training hard as we can and making a lot of adjustments from my last fight to work on. I know Emma has been training but I’m a mixed martial artist who is young and ready to prove myself. Once again, I will walk out the winner of that fight and do my best to earn another performance of the night.”
JOURNALIST: “And what is going on between you and the current Union Grand Prix Bantamweight Champion, C.C. Flynn? Both of you have been back and forth on social media and it’s catching a lot of attention.”
SERENITY HOLMES: “I think C.C. Flynn is starting to realize that she’s on the decline. There’s always going to be that one girl who will come and take everything from you and that’s me. She’s just trying to throw me off my game and intimidate me but I’ve been through that my entire life. I’m not scared of her, I’m motivated. C.C. Flynn has become my biggest fan in UGP.”
[The final shot ends with Serenity taking pictures with fans and signing autographs.]
THE WEIGH-INS
Mexico City, Mexico
[The early morning came and Serenity is still sleeping in bed snoring obnoxiously loud under the covers. John, her head coach, enters into her suite and sighs at the fact she’s still sleeping. He looks at the camera and shakes his head.]
JOHN KARTMAN: “Serenity, wake up. It’s time.”
SERENITY HOLMES: “Five more minutes, please…”
[The next shot is Serenity in the car wearing a black hoodie and baggy sweatpants along with slippers sitting next to John with a look of annoyance on the way to the arena. Serenity gets out of the car carrying a duffle bag in her hand, surrounded by her camp and following a production member to their designated locker room.]
[Transitioning to the next scene which is a small stage setup for the preliminary weigh-ins leading to Serenity Holmes walking up on the stage in a sports bra and panties by UGP design to stand on the scale awaiting for her weight to be called out.]
OFFICIAL: “127.5 Pounds!”
[Serenity smiles and thanks the audience before walking out of the frame but then as time passes by, the next shot is Bodie Sullivan standing on the stage for the ceremonial weigh ins. The fans are in their seats cheering, the media has taken control of the ground level and Bodie stands next to the ring card girls announcing the weight of Emma Hunt.]
BODIE SULLIVAN: “135 and a half pounds for Emma Hunt!”
[Emma poses on the scale for the audience then steps off to join her team waiting for her opponent to arrive.]
BODIE SULLIVAN: “Introducing her opponent! The 22nd Century Girl! Serenity Holmes”
[Serenity walks out from the backstage area to a positive reaction and she climbs up the stairs to the stage then stands on the weight.]
BODIE SULLIVAN: “127 and a half pounds for Serenity Holmes!
[Serenity flexes for the audience the steps off the weight to meet with Emma in a staredown monitored by Perry Wallace. Serenity has that penance stare and Emma keeps her eyes on her until Perry thanks them to which Serenity shakes Emma’s hand and the two leave for the final shot with Serenity waving goodbye to the audience.]
