Liz Carmouche had mixed emotions when she learned Bellator had been sold to PFL.
When the sale was completed, Carmouche was left just one month removed from his third consecutive title defense as Bellator flyweight champion. She's been anxiously awaiting her next assignment, but rather than move forward with the new version of Bellator, the 40-year-old veteran has moved to the PFL to participate in the next season-long tournament, which begins Thursday. did.
“The excitement and the potential to make the most money of my career so far was exciting, especially for a woman,” Carmouche told MMA Fighting of the move to PFL. “To win another belt in another promotion. Again, I was really excited.
“But I want to defend the belt that I won and I want the chance to continue and successfully defend the title. I've talked to other fighters like Ilima as well.” [Lei-Macfarlane] Whoever was talking about the idea of being able to go through a season and know when you're going to compete and win the next belt sounded very exciting. ”
As part of the PFL season, Carmouche could play four times in 2024, which would be his best year since making his six-game debut in 2010. This is in addition to the $1 million prize awarded to the winner at the end of the season. Welcome bonus.
But what will happen to her Bellator title?
Truth be told, even Carmouche has no idea about that question.
“I don't know either,” Carmouche said with a laugh. “My answer is that we're both still lost. It's weird but kind of fun at the same time. Every year it's a clean slate. I play every title defense as if it's not my belt. That's exactly what I'm doing legitimately because I'm going to treat myself like a man and go for that belt every time. I don't have to pretend and tell myself that.”
If his unknown status as Bellator champion wasn't confusing enough, Carmouche also learned that he will begin the 2024 PFL season with a familiar foe as his first opponent.
Rather than face another fighter in the tournament, Carmouche faced former Bellator champion Juliana Velasquez, whom she had already fought and lost twice.
“[I was] I was 150 percent surprised,” Carmouche said of the reaction to the booking. “I thought it was going to be Tyra Santos. To me, she looks like the most dangerous person out of this. She'll probably be my first round opponent. Okay. First off. I'll take the hardest one out and then work my way through in reverse order. For some reason, I hadn't seen Velasquez fight since her last match, so she came onto my radar as a possibility to play in the tournament. It wasn't even in. Of course it was, but I didn't think anything of it.
“So [they told me] “It's going to be Velazquez” and [I said], “What, no, I think that's wrong.'' what? 'That wasn't who I expected. ”
Although it was tough to understand the logic behind the matchmaking, Carmouche promised he found enough motivation to beat Velasquez a third time.
“She feels, and many people feel that way, that the first match was controversial and that she didn't actually lose,” Carmouche said. “When she doesn't move her head, doesn't play defense, and gets hit with her elbow with a minute left, I don't understand how that's not a loss. And then her second one, definitely. [I won]. To me, that only makes her more dangerous.
“For me, at this point she's going to do whatever it takes to get a win, get back in the win column and advance in the tournament. Even if it's illegal. If anything, that's what I expect. It wasn't what I was doing or what I wanted, but for me she and Tyra Santos are the two most dangerous players in this tournament right now.”
Carmouche also acknowledged that martial artists are notorious for being their own worst critics. Therefore, there is always room for improvement. Even with two wins against Velasquez (one by TKO and one by submission), Carmouche expects to do better at Thursday's reunion.
“Even if I defeat you [Kana] With Watanabe it was a matter of about 37 seconds, but I still wasn't satisfied with my performance,” Carmouche said. “Yes, I beat her and finished quickly and easily, but technically I was not satisfied with my performance. So is Velasquez. I feel like I've let her do it too much, and I wasn't happy with the outcome and never questioned it. I should have just split her face open and sliced her open. , Then we wouldn't have any doubts. In the second game, the technical aspects looked very sloppy and I wasn't satisfied with it.
“Chance number three, I ended up cleaning it up. Would someone like the challenge of doing something different that they've never faced before? Absolutely. But then again, she Knowing that he's going for that $1 million, it's not just a third rematch. It's a rematch for $1 million.”
