One of Bellator’s newest free agent signings has her debut date set. Bellator officials announced Friday that Liz Carmouche, the former UFC title challenger at both flyweight and bantamweight, will make her promotional debut at Bellator 243. Opposite her in the card’s main event will be undefeated SBG Ireland talent Mandy Bohm.
The fight will take place May 29 at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California. Tickets for the event go on sale on Friday, March 13.
Carmouche (13-7) was last seen competing for the UFC flyweight championship against Valentina Shevchenko in August, 2019. She lost the fight by unanimous decision. Coincidentally, both Carmouche’s first and last UFC bouts were title fights. The first came against Ronda Rousey in 2013 at UFC 157. In that, the ‘Girl-Rilla’ was submitted towards the end of the first round.
Despite coming up short in her bids for gold, Carmouche holds notable victories over the likes of Invicta FC flyweight champ Jennifer Maia, UFC flyweight title challenger Katlyn Chookagian, and future UFC strawweight champ Jessica Andrade. She also has a win over Shevchenko from earlier in their respective careers, back in 2010.
Carmouche happens to be teammates with current Bellator women’s flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane. That could make things very interesting down the road.
Many Bohm (6-0, 1NC) is the lady facing Carmouche in her Bellator debut. Bohm is also a newcomer, however. She most recently competed for Canada’s TKO MMA, winning that promotion’s vacant flyweight championship in May with a submission win over Jade Masson-Wong.
No other fights have been announced for Bellator 243 to date. The event is expected to air live on Paramount Network and DAZN following early prelims that will be streamed online.
