Flyweight Jena Bishop won two fights to land in the PFL World Tournament finals this Friday at PFL Charlotte, where she takes on a vastly more experienced mixed martial artist in Liz Carmouche.
Bishop (9-2) was not happy during parts of her past PFL season, questioning some of the promotion’s matchmaking in particular. Things have changed in the ongoing World Tournament, which has employed a grand prix format.
Speaking to Cageside Press a few weeks back, after booking her date with Carmouche care of a submission win over Ekaterina Shakalova, Bishop noted that “everything’s been good this year. A lot of the things changed with the format of the tournament. I think that’s a little bit better, and just me understanding how things work with them [the PFL], and everybody’s kind of adjusted to the changes, and a little bit more settled after last year.”
So much was unknown following the merger between Bellator and the PFL, added Bishop. “I think it’s just in a little bit better spot. For me, I just need to have clarity, and I have plenty of that. This year’s been pretty good.”
Now, she heads into a fight with Carmouche, a woman who has more high-level MMA experience than just about anyone. Carmouche, of course, fought Ronda Rousey in the first ever women’s UFC fight. She faced Valentina Shevchenko for flyweight gold, and won Bellator’s 125lb title. Bishop, however, has her own experience, as a highly decorated jiu-jitsu artist.
“I think just, there’s nothing that you can do to gain that experience in jiu-jitsu, and getting to that skill level, without having the years that I’ve had, and the tournament experience, and going up against the highest level of competition. So MMA is definitely a different thing, but my style of jiu-jitsu translates really well to MMA. So I think that that definitely gives me an edge,” she said during Wednesday’s PFL Charlotte media day.
As for taking on a veteran like Carmouche, “it’s a cool opportunity just to go up against somebody that’s been doing it so long, that’s been, just kind of like started at the highest level of women’s MMA,” Bishop stated. “She brought it into the UFC, one of the first there. It’s a great opportunity for me I think.”
For anyone viewing Jena Bishop as an underdog, well, you won’t be hurting her feelings any time soon.
“I feel like I’m indifferent. Like I don’t care. I’m just here to fight. I try to not pay attention to what anyone else says, because honestly it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is the opinions of the people that are closest to me. I know what they think, so everything else is like noise.”
Watch our interview, and Jena Bishop’s PFL Charlotte media day appearance, above. The event takes place this Friday, August 15, 2025 at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina.
