She was the first woman to set foot inside the UFC octagon. She fought for gold in Strikeforce, and twice in the UFC. It’s been a long journey for Bellator MMA women’s flyweight champion Liz Carmouche, but she finally holds gold in a major promotion, and shows no signs of slowing down just yet.
Carmouche (18-7), who headlines Bellator 294 this Friday in a rematch with DeAnna Bennett, told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview that she hasn’t even had time to really appreciate the moment, from her title win on.
“I don’t really think that I have sat back and taken it all in. I got back from my fight, I do my fight camps in Virginia Beach now. So I drive cross-country out here to do it, and I drive back home to California to be with my family,” Carmouche explained.
On her last trek back, Carmouche was driving all over the map, picking up dogs for her wife’s non-profit rescue, then visiting family. When at long last she finally did return home, “I got word that I was getting a fight, and having to drive back out here. So I barely had a chance to really enjoy it, I already had my eyes set to the next adventure and what the next goal check-mark was.”
It’s been a decade since Carmouche became the first woman to set foot inside the UFC octagon, after Dana White had notoriously proclaimed that women would never fight there. Having already challenged for gold in Strikeforce, the “Girl-Rilla” was coming off back-to-back wins in Invicta ahead of that February 2013 fight against Ronda Rousey.
UFC 157 wasn’t her night, as Rousey instead locked in her patented arm-bar submission— though not before Carmouche gave her a scare.
“I think everybody relates MMA and this journey to being a roller coaster, it has its ups and it has its downs,” Carmouche said, reflecting on how far she’s come since that night. “But I love the journey. One of the places I love being every day is being in the gym, seeing new faces, learning new things, enjoying the possibility that I can grow to here. To me, MMA seems to have an endless roof and there’s no cap to the possibilities.”
Carmouche heads to Hawaii once again for her rematch with DeAnna Bennett this Friday. The pair met in their respective promotional debuts in 2020; Carmouche won via submission, and neither has lost since. It’s Carmouche, of course, who now holds gold, having toppled Juliana Velasquez, then defeated her in a rematch to remove any doubt.
The champ doesn’t believe Bennett has changed much since their first encounter.
“I haven’t seen any growth from her, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in facing opponents, it’s just because they’ve performed at the same level, they rise to the occasion when they come to face me,” observed Carmouche. “And sometimes they see things that I’ve done or things they’ve done incorrectly, and they’ve got a completely different game plan. I’ve got things that I want to work on, but I’m definitely prepared for the idea that she’s going to come out as a new fighter.”
That said, while Carmouche isn’t looking past Bennett, part of her would have preferred a fresh face. “I think there are so many women that are skilled in Bellator and they’re making their way through the ranks and showing their ability to face and overcome adversity, to be flashy and show off their skillset,” she stated. “And I want an opportunity to see a new face and try something new, in a new style. But that doesn’t change the goal ahead.”
If all goes well this Friday in Honolulu, Carmouche will have made her second title defense. She still has goals, including obtaining a second title. With Bellator lacking a bantamweight division for women, we asked whether a trip to 145lbs, where the status of Cris Cyborg is in limbo, might be possible.
“I think that there’s one thing that I’ve learned is, at 135 I was small, but at 125, I’m the second smallest person in the division,” replied Carmouche. “So for me to go up to 145, of course I’d love it, an opportunity to have two belts, and if that could make the encouragement to make 135 and hold three, that would be phenomenal.”
The reality is, Carmouche continued, that looking at featherweights like Julia Budd, a former Bellator champ, “I’m lucky if I can grab her hips and punch there— I’m not going to hit her in the face. It just doesn’t seem to me to make sense to move up to 145. But of course if the possibility of having that other belt looms, then maybe I could do it. So it’s not off the table.”
Watch our full interview with Bellator 294 headliner Liz Carmouche above. The event takes place this Friday, April 21, 2023 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii.
