[The familiar setting of the Boston Based Kratos Gym looms in the background as two chairs are set up a few yards in front of an empty octagonal cage, angled in slightly toward one another with a small table in between. In one chair the respected Isaac Cohen is seated, taking a sip from a glass of water as he prepares to speak with the Bantamweight challenger, Ciaran Callahan. The Crippler, or more the more recently stylized Starkiller, stares back at Isaac unflinching, a slight smirk on his face.]
ISAAC COHEN: “Ladies and Gentlemen, thanks for tuning in to another edition of One on One. With UGP 72, the final event of 2025, on the horizon we’re joined by the relatively unknown bantamweight challenger for Marissa Kane’s crown, Ciaran Callahan.”
[Callahan nods, the smirk still just barely perceptible on his face. He’s comfortable in his own skin even if the element of sitting down for this type of conversation is new to him.]
CIARAN CALLAHAN: “Merci beaucoup, Isaac. I promise not to force you to read a list of silly nicknames to stroke my ego.”
[Callahan’s response a callback to the series of monikers that C.C. Flynn had seemingly demanded the host read off on her return edition to the company.]
ISAAC COHEN: “Let’s get straight to business, shall we? Your journey to this moment has been filled with success intermingled with failure. Although the losses you have suffered are a who’s who of highly respected and decorated competitors. Why should anyone believe that this moment is not too big for you, when others have been?”
CIARAN CALLAHAN: “Because in every instance of failure I have learned something and improved my craft. And in every single loss it has been the judges who decided that my opponent was the victor, rather than my opponent finishing the fight. This is not to say that I was not beaten in those fights. But no moment has ever been too big for me. In a few of those moments, my opponent has subjectively been seen as the more successful competitor on that evening.”
[Cohen nods and quickly shifts to his next question.]
ISAAC COHEN: “But this is not just any big stage. This is the biggest event of the year. Against a competitor who has only been beaten 4 times in 30 fights. She’s a hall of famer. And perhaps more importantly even at this stage in her career, at 35 years of age, she has walked into the Bantamweight division and quite frankly walked through it since her arrival. This isn’t just a championship fight, this is a championship fight against one of possibly the top five, and maybe even the greatest, to ever do it.”
[Ciaran listens patiently as some of the reasons why the host feels that the moment might be too big for him and why Marissa Kane might be too difficult of a challenge to overcome.]
CIARAN CALLAHAN: “Yes. She is the Murder Queen. There is no denying her accomplishments or her skill. I would say that it is both a great honor and a privilege to step into the cage against her and to challenge for the bantamweight championship. Even my coach, Delaney Donovan, has spent significant time educating me. But even greatness is put under strain by time.”
ISAAC COHEN: “What exactly do you mean by that?”
CIARAN CALLAHAN: “It is not just that father time eventually catches up with everyone. For Marissa, running her own gym and preparing many talented young fighters to become the best version of themselves has left her unaware of what is waiting for her. Listen to her own words following her victory over Serenity Holmes. Who were the names she spoke of. She wishes to face the best of the best. Not just champions, but legends in the making.”
[The host nods as the challenger pauses for dramatic effect, beginning to sense where he is going with his answer.]
CIARAN CALLAHAN: “CC Flynn. Gianna Howard. Victoria Marshall. Morgan LeChance. Meigui Blackman. Five names. Do you notice whose name was not on her radar?”
ISAAC COHEN: “Yours.”
CIARAN CALLAHAN: “Yes. So, she is either ignorant and unaware, or a fool. And given everything that I have learned about Marissa from my own study and from the education that Delaney has provided, I know that she is not a fool. Regardless. When the night has concluded she will have started a new list. That new list will contain one name. Mine, as she attempts to reclaim the championship and the throne that I am going to take from her.”
[While Callahan had been half smirking early in the interview, he is all business now.]
ISAAC COHEN: “Well it is easy to see how you could take that as disrespectful. So how do you keep from allowing your emotions to get the best of you heading into the biggest fight of your career?”
CIARAN CALLAHAN: “I do not think it is disrespectful. I think it is ignorance borne out of the fact that she is unable to give her full attention to fighting. She even said so herself less than two weeks ago. No more distractions were her words. Two weeks from a championship fight and she herself confesses publicly that she has been distracted.”
[The challenger pauses for a moment, not long enough to give Isaac a chance to ask another question but long enough to consider his next statement.]
CIARAN CALLAHAN: ”But even if it was meant to be disrespectful, it does not derail me from my purpose. People can speak of dream fights. People can fantasy book cards months in the future, and envision who will carry the Bantamweight banner. What fans, commentators and the bookkeepers dream of is not my concern. I am only concerned with my dreams. With my purpose. With my destiny.”
ISAAC COHEN: “And that dream, purpose and destiny is to become the Bantamweight Champion?”
CIARAN CALLAHAN: “Yes. And in doing so close the ‘next’ chapters of dying stars before they are ready. It is nothing personal. It is just inevitable.”
[Cohen nods and begins to wrap the interview up.]
ISAAC COHEN: “Well, you heard it here first, folks. And soon enough we’ll find out if Ciaran Callahan can make good on his promises. Crippler, best of luck this weekend. Ladies and gentlemen make sure to tune in early for the stacked preliminary card we’ve got and get ready for a night full of fireworks as Union Grand Prix closes the year out with three championship fights on the line. Don’t miss it.”