A journey into the clouds

Fighter profile of Cloud Strife by Alika Webb

Trapped on an island with an abundance of hungry fighters, one of the men that continues to stand out amongst his peers is the talented knockout artist, Cloud Strife. This little write-up will follow his  journey from zero to hero.

The island as a universe disconnected from the rest of the world is an interesting concept but it has seen its fair share of ups and downs. Season six of the notorious island is still going strong and while it may be flawed it still has a lot of positive things to offer. On the shore of the island, there stands a lighthouse towering over the beautiful scenery and under its warmth an organization was built up from scratch named after said lighthouse. One of the brightest lights to shine on the island is the current Lighthouse heavyweight champion, Cloud Strife.

Cloud wasted no time when the season began, he immediately took matters in his own hands. He dove in head first by giving an open challenge in the form of quick fights. He simply ran through his first two opponents. He gauged the distance with some punches, quickly closed the distance and swarmed them with some vicious punches in the clinch until they went down in the very first round. His third fight was possibly the most dominant performance of his career. Taco Stiffy is now a former title contender for Lighthouse’s rival organization but before he signed his contract, he briefly competed on the independent circuit. Coming from a fast submission victory, on paper Stiffy was the first real test for Cloud. Cloud passed that test with flying colors. After knocking the submission standout down with a huge combination he followed it up with a brutal overhand right which put his opponents lights out before he even hit the ground, ending the battle a mere twelve seconds into the fight. Next on the list was talented wrestler Joe Schmo who’s made a living pounding people into the ground. While Schmo looked to take the initiative by closing the distance, it was Cloud that took the fight to the clinch where he simply massacred the wrestler. After rocking Schmo with a short uppercut he launched a barrage of strikes until the ref finally decided that enough was enough.

Confidence was high riding a four fight winning streak, Cloud faced future Revolution Island heavyweight champion and heavy handed kickboxer, Zyd Xyd. Xyd came out strong with ruthless aggression throwing all kind of kicks. Body kicks, head kicks, spinning back kicks, … Strife got caught by a massive head kick that sent him tumbling down to the mat. Xyd was able to stop Strife from building up any momentum and viciously finished Strife with a big head kick resulting in one of the most memorable face plant knockouts in the history of the island. Strife did not let the loss get to him, he never for a second taught about giving up after that big setback. Only six days later he returned to the cage, facing heavy handed clinch fighter Jim Jones. Strife came back with a vengeance as he quickly managed to close the distance and simply outworked his opponent in the clinch with his dirty boxing. This yankee or Japanese delinquent was standing strong again and looked ready for the next thrilling chapter in his career and thus he went looking for a contract.

After failing to come to terms with Revolution Islands management, ultimately he decided to take a risk and sign with the Lighthouse organization. Undoubtedly the most documented fight of his career was the first fight he had under the Lighthouse banner. Cloud was the biggest name Lighthouse could get their hands on to create some hype for their inaugural event and it seemed that the future of Lighthouse rested on his broad shoulders. Standing in front of him was fellow clinch specialist Francis Hooper. Hooper already made his name as a sprint fighter, bull rushing his opponents into the clinch and finishing them off as fast as possible. Since the only loss in the career of Cloud Strife came at the hands of an aggressive fighter who managed to set the pace before him and considering Hoopers clinch skills, on paper this was a dream fight that could sell anywhere for the Lighthouse promoters. While it was Hooper that took the fight to the clinch, it was Strife who simply demolished him in the clinch. After the first round Strife walked back to his corner looking like his usual self, as an anime character with spiky hair and smooth impeccable skin. His opponent on the other hand stumbled back to his corner battered and bruised like he just barely managed to survive a car crash. The damage was done and in the beginning of the second round Strife put the exclamation point on a dominating performance by knocking Hooper out cold with a signature overhand right.

Cloud Strife next faced Kenny Starfighter, a heavy handed brawler who was known for his lightning fast knockouts. The winner would be crowned the very first Lighthouse heavyweight champion. Strife managed to close the distance as soon as the opening bell rang, Starfighter looked lost in the clinch which was painfully obvious when he started defending himself against the clinch strikes with his head. A little over a minute into the fight and it was all she wrote as Strife knocked the poor guy out with a massive hook right to the temple. Now a champion, Cloud Strife faced his first title challenger. Kuha Ottelee was an interesting fight, Ottelee was not just a clinch fighter. He was a Muay Thai clinch expert, a master of elbows and knees. Many thought the champion would not dare to go to the clinch with this entirely new breed of animal. The challenger boldly rushed forward and took the fight to the clinch where many assumed he would have the advantage. Things didn’t quite go the way anyone expected it to go. Ottelee actually tried to slow down the pace in the clinch while Strife did what he does best, he worked his magic with his dirty boxing. Ottelee got busted open really quick and the fight got bloodier by the second. Strife smelled the blood and continued the onslaught, raining down big punches knocking the wounded Ottelee down a stunning four times. Ottelee miraculously survived the first round. The second round started where the first one ended, with Ottelee going down from a big strike. Strife closed the distance as soon as Ottelee got up and opened the horrible cut even further. When the referee saw that Ottelee looked like a recently deceased victim in a horror movie he decided to call in the doctor who mercifully called an end to the bout.

The next stop is the first rematch in the illustrious career of the now notorious island champion, Cloud Strife. For the first time in his career Cloud Strife faced a man he knew all too well, the dangerous clinch fighter Francis Hooper. The thing about a rematch is that when you lost there’s always a reason for it, you can study the previous fight and learn from it so that what happened in the first fight won’t happen again in the rematch. But what about when you won the previous fight? Should you change something to keep things fresh and keep your opponent guessing or should you never change a winning team? While Hooper was smart enough not to take the fight to the clinch this time around, both inside and outside the clinch the champion simply outworked him and put a stop to the fight at the start of the second round with a brutal knockout punch.

Continuing on his path of destruction, Cloud Strife next faced Mario Luigiano, a self-proclaimed savior who was at the time on a four fight winning streak. A heavy handed boxer with a mean clinch game, this Italian brawler had never been defeated up to that point and he wanted to keep it that way. Unfortunately for Luigiano, that was not what the future had in store for him. For the first time in what seemed like forever Cloud Strife finally seemed to be in a pretty competitive fight. The challenger stood toe to toe with the champion and kept up until lightning struck. Strife landed a big uppercut seemingly from out of nowhere and sent Luigiano crashing to the mat. As the saying goes lightning always strikes twice, the champion once again connected with a perfectly timed uppercut knocking down the challenger once again in the first round. In the second round the champion went back to his roots and tried to close the distance. The challenger did his best to keep the champion at bay but eventually succumbed to the relentlessness of the champion. Cloud Strife finished Luigiano in the clinch with a brutal assault of punches until the referee finally intervened to put a stop to the fight.

Cloud Strife made quick work of the fourth challenger, Johnny Deluxe. This talented grappler loves to take people down to the ground but Cloud Strife denied him of that opportunity. Cloud strife made it look like target practice when he started throwing those haymakers. He put an end to the fight not even halfway through the very first round. The most impressive finish of Cloud Strifes career came in the fifth defense of his title. Jamos "El Guapo" Ramon, a jack of all trades loved to take the champion by surprise but it didn’t matter. The champion managed to neutralize everything the challenger threw at him and knocked the well rounded fighter out with a spinning backfist that dropped Ramon like a ragdoll.

The latest fight of the 26 year old Japanese mirakuru kid was another rematch. Joe Schmo gave it another shot and was looking forward to showing his improvements since they last fought. While he did show a little more effectiveness in his striking it paled in comparison to the power of Cloud Strife. Strife opened up a huge cut and cracked Schmo with a nasty uppercut that sent Schmo tumbling backwards onto the mat. He savagely went in after him and the referee had to step in to prevent any unnecessary damage.

Will this Japanese fighter continue dominating the ranks on the island or will he be a victim of his own success as his popularity has put a big target on his back?

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