Only way that is happening is with Link fully armed and Cloud with no materia. Cloud is superhuman at his base self, his Lvl. 3 and 4 limit breaks are brutal, and he just gets worse with Haste, Reflect, etc., never mind offensive spells like Ultima, Comet, summons…

Link is resourceful, he may outwit Cloud, but he will absolutely not beat him in a straight fight.