As for Liz Carmouche, she still reigns as the Bellator MMA flyweight champion.
However, with that in mind, our top priority right now is to win the Professional Fighters League season.
“I’m not giving up the belt,” Carmouche said of the Bellator belt during a recent PFL media call. “I don’t know the ranking. My understanding is that all women were given the opportunity to come to the PFL, and they chose to add the flyweight division to the PFL. So with the addition of this division, [125-pound] “If I have the opportunity to defend my belt with Bellator I’ll still consider doing so, but right now I’m just focused on getting to the finals and winning the PFL belt.”
Carmouche will face Kana Watanabe on Thursday at PFL 4 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, in a rematch of her 35-second technical knockout victory under Bellator in June 2021. Carmouche, who won by decision over Juliana Velazquez in PFL 1, may need to perform similarly to her first bout with Watanabe to secure a spot in the postseason.
“In 2019, I made a change to my approach of just seeing fights to the end,” Carmouche said. “That’s exactly what I was going for in my last fight with Velasquez. She did a great job of keeping me at bay, but I was aggressive the whole time, and I just didn’t get the finish I wanted. That sense of urgency is part of the lifestyle I fight in, but it’s even more so now to make sure I get the finish in the first round and move forward in good shape for the season.”
For Carmouche, adding a PFL Championship to his trophy case will be especially meaningful because of the different format the organization employs.
“There’s so much I’m trying to accomplish with each chapter in my book on life and MMA. I’ve heard about the PFL, the ruleset, how the seasons and points work,
[are done]”I feel like it’s a very fair way to do things,” she said. “This is an organization I want to be a part of, and I want to be able to raise my hand and hold my belt with pride. With this chapter being added, we’ll be able to get the 125 belt and hopefully the 135 belt.”
Carmouche made a name for herself as a 135-pound fighter, facing Ronda Rousey for the bantamweight title in the first women’s fight in UFC history, and she hopes the PFL will consider adding the weight class in future seasons because she believes it would give opportunities to fighters who may not be a part of the 125 or 145 pound bracket.
“This means a lot because I feel like there’s not a lot of women doing well at 145, but Bellator at least had 125 and 145,” Carmouche said. “We didn’t have 135, and now the PFL is opening up a heavier weight class for women…So adding that is going to be an important way to send a message to other organizations that the PFL is for real, that it’s here to stay, and that it’s a strong organization that develops all women….There are a lot of great fighters that have made it up to 145 and either weren’t a good fit or, like me, fell to 125 and struggled. Adding 135 to the mix…
[to PFL] And we can create great, exciting fights that people want to see.”
Carmouche is so focused on progressing in the PFL that he isn’t even considering the possibility of fighting at a Bellator event in his hometown of San Diego on Sept. 7.
“I plan on competing in the PFL this season,” she said.
[playoff] I have a fight on August 2 and then the finals, so I don’t want to do anything to detract from that. So I want the opportunity to defend my belt and I want to do it again in San Diego, but I’m definitely going to be in the PFL. I really want to enjoy that opportunity and I’m not going to do anything to detract from it so I can perform at my best and keep fighting for the PFL.”
