Finalists in lawless melee recalled extreme fight (3-2)
I believe the answer is:
set-to
'fight' is the definition.
(I know that set-to is a type of fight)
'finalists in lawless melee recalled extreme' is the wordplay.
'finalists in lawless melee' becomes 'se' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'recalled' says the letters should be written backwards (to recall can mean to bring something back).
'extreme' becomes 'OTT' (abbreviation for over the top).
'ott' back-to-front is 'tto'.
'se'+'tto'='SET-TO'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for set-to that I've seen before include "Fight, argument" , "brush with violence?" , "Disagreement, fight" , "Scrap" , "Brief fight" .)