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“Hello everyone, Paul Austin here, and welcome to another panel of MMA Today. We are here to discuss, what else but the aftermath of the Nash and Beckinsale match up. We are asking our viewers and audience members the same questions our panel will answer. Simply download the app and follow the prompts on the screen you see there, it’s quite easy. Gentleman, welcome. George, let’s start with you. Should Veronica Nash be cited for the last few seconds of her match?”

“Absolutely, she should. I’ve been following this sport for well over twenty-five years. I thought I’d seen the highs, the lows and everything in between. But what I saw that night was the lowest of the low. I don’t care who you are, anyone that thinks that is the way MMA is supposed to be fought has their morals skewed. That wasn’t MMA. That was thuggery.”

“John, do you agree?”

“I do, to an extent. I don’t believe it was thuggery, but it was a poor showing from a champion as seasoned as Nash. You expect her to carry herself a certain way, to showcase the sport that has given her so much in a better light than that. Very poor form.”

“Now Sam, I can see you squirming over there. I know you’ve been waiting for the chance to say something about this.”

“I have... Now let me get this out of the way. I understand that Ava Beckinsale is still in the hospital. I want to say to her family and friends that I wish her a speedy recovery, God willing. And I hate to see anyone in our great sport hurt like that. With that being said, I have no problem whatsoever with Veronica Nash’s actions. This, gentleman, is a champion the likes of which we will never see again. She has proven, time and time again, she cannot be defeated.

This was the first time in a long time where someone truly stepped up to the plate and said ‘I don’t care who you are. I’m going to fight you’. It’s something the women’s division has been missing since Nash herself was the challenger for the title. I admit they have become stagnant over there. But to say that’s Nash’s fault because she’s too good? How dare anyone say that about her. What is she supposed to do? Apologise to the world because her competition is rubbish? No. She went out there, faced a great challenger and finished her like she was supposed to do. A champion is as a champion does. The uproar over this has been comical.”

“Sam, to be fair, Beckinsale, as you said, is still in hospital because of what Nash did to her. I think the uproar is somewhat justified.”

“Where do you draw the line, Paul? What is fair play these days? When is it tough as opposed to thuggery? We are involved in the most brutal one-on-one sport in the world. You know what they say: if you can’t stand the heat stay out of the kitchen.”

“Sam, you said Veronica Nash faced a great challenger. Did Beckinsale’s performance surprise you?”

“It did. I was shocked to be frank. Never in a million years would I have expected that. And I want to know where the condemnation of Beckinsale’s team is for agreeing to the fight, even an exhibition? Or the organisation for setting it up? You’re all putting the blame on Nash. Putting a semi-pro in the ring with a seasoned fighter the calibre of Nash was borderline attempted murder. An amateur diver jumps into a lagoon with a tiger shark, what do you think is going to happen? The world is losing their mind over the injuries to Beckinsale while collectively forgetting who it was that put her in that situation in the first place.”

“Personally, I don’t think anyone is forgetting. They just realise it’s rather irrelevant now, but it’s an interesting point. To a different set of questions now. Nash has reportedly said she won’t consider a rematch. Do you support a rematch? Is there a cloud over her legacy without one? Does her refusal add fuel to the idea that she was spooked by Beckinsale? And do you think she’s intimidated by Beckinsale? George?”

“I want a rematch, and I don’t for one second think we won’t get one. Not if Beckinsale is fit. Money talks in this game, and a rematch right now would sell out any arena anywhere. I think Nash’s refusal is out of respect for Beckinsale still being in the hospital. I don’t think there will be a cloud over her legacy. She’s gone on too long for that to happen. But, in saying that, without a rematch and a definitive victory, this will be her most famous fight for all the wrong reasons.”

“John?”

“Well this may make me unpopular, but I’m going to disagree with George and especially Sam, no doubt. I will forever be of the opinion that I saw fear in the eyes of Veronica Nash for the first time in her career. Ava Beckinsale, a semi-pro, took everything Nash had and kept coming after her. No, it isn’t Nash’s fault that her competition has been, admittedly, very weak for the last four or so years. All she can do as champion, and as an ambassador of the sport, is fight the best there is out there.

Right now, believe it or not, that’s Ava Beckinsale. Forget Beckinsale’s lack of experience and her current predicament. In less than three minutes, she proved to the fighting world how much heart and tenacity she has, and it took a deliberate cheap shot— yes, Sam, I said it, a deliberate cheap shot— to stop her. Kicking at the leg is nothing new. Kicking when the back is turned? Pathetic.

Sam and Nash’s fans can come and defend her all they like, but no one can argue that it wasn’t Ava’s injury that stopped the match. Injury. It wasn’t a strike Beckinsale wasn’t expecting. It was one she didn’t even see. The kick to her back added salt into a bitter, spiteful wound. No champion, as calm and in control as Nash had been in the past, would need to do it.

I’ll finish by saying not only do I think there should be a rematch, I think Nash owes a title shot to Beckinsale, herself and fight fans around the world. There IS a massive cloud around Nash and her legacy, but she’s done that to herself. You’re only as good as your last fight, and she’s been accused of fighting Neville Nobodies for years. And her last fight will be career defining IF she lets it.

The rematch would settle once and for all what kind of champion and fighter Nash is. Will she take the easy road now? Or will she accept her mistakes and do the right thing by giving Beckinsale a real, honest shot at the belt she has held for ten straight years? It was a joke match before. I admit I didn’t even watch it live. No one is joking now. The world wants it. And, quite frankly, I think Nash needs it.”

“We are almost out of time, so we will leave the last word to Sam, then we will have a look at those audience results.”

“Actually, can we see those audience results now? Have you got them?”

“OK. Let’s have a look. Wow. Sixty-two percent of you think Nash should be cited. An incredible ninety-one percent want a rematch. Seventy-six percent think Nash’s legacy is questionable. And sixty-nine percent believe Nash is intimidated by Beckinsale.”

“Right, thank you for that. I just needed to know if I was dealing with idiots watching at home. Now I know.”

“Now come on Sam—”

“No. Wait. I’m going to say this because some common sense is needed here. Veronica Nash has given us some of the most wonderful memories and victories of any fighter. Ever. A decade of destruction and now, all of a sudden, fans think she needs to prove herself? To prove that she’s worth something as a champion? What absolute rubbish.

I called out Beckinsale’s trainers and the company for allowing this, but now I have to wonder about the mental capacity of some fans and panel members. You saw what happened after the fight. Most of the fight world came down on her. Now you want them to go at it again for your entertainment.

You know the only thing that’s changed? Beckinsale. She’s no longer an amateur. She’s semi-pro. With one match. The same woman that’s been lying in a hospital bed for weeks and you just want to pick her up, dust her off and toss her to the wolves again.

What if Beckinsale says she’s retiring? Or what if she doesn’t want a rematch? Is she a coward too?

You all can blow smoke up her you know what. She gave a good account of herself for about a hundred and twenty seconds. After that? Class and experience won out as it always does. She was out of her league and got found wanting. She would know that better than anyone.

Again, I ask, where is the line drawn? I wouldn’t hold it against either woman if they said no. Furthermore, I wouldn’t hold it against Nash if she said she’d never face Beckinsale again just to spite the people hounding her. Veronica Nash doesn’t owe anyone anything. She has earned the right to pick and choose her opponents at any time she sees fit. Maybe, just maybe, she has a heart and doesn’t want to obliterate a young fighter, that’s just starting out, twice in a row.


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