PFL will return this Thursday (4th April 2024) with the women’s flyweights and the men’s heavyweights divisions. The return has also excited one of the fighters participating in the event.
The Bellator women’s flyweight champion Liz Carmouche admitted she was all for participating in the event. Liz Carmouche admitted she was looking forward to the tournament coming up. Carmouche saw she was coming up against a familiar opponent which she admitted was quite shocking at first.
Liz Carmouche Admits No Talks About Velasquez Rematch
Carmouche is coming into this season as the current flyweight champion in Bellator. While she is excited about competing she did admit there was no discussion about fighting Julianna Velasquez at the beginning.
Speaking to Cageside Press Liz Carmouche admittedL
“They only approached me if I wanted to participate in the PFL season, which in my mind, I said without a doubt, absolutely,”
“As far as fighting Velasquez, that was just a draw and I just happened to get picked for it. I honestly forgot that she was fighting for Bellator and even a possibility of being a prospect in the tournament. So it came as a huge surprise to me when that was the first name I pulled for the first fight.”
Velasquez Feels She Won Both Fights
Carmouche will face Julianna Velasquez in the first round of fights. During their time in Bellator, the pair fought twice against each other for the Bellator title.
With that said, Carmouche admitted that Velasquez felt that Carmouche didn’t win any of the fights between the two of them. However, she was able to finish Velasquez in both the fights they had with each other.
Velasquez can think whatever, she wants to think however, in reality, Liz Carmouche got the finish twice over here, a statistic that can’t be denied. Carmouche was able to defeat Velasquez for the first time to clinch the flyweight title,and then then she granted Velasquez a rematch where she was able to defend the title.
What is next for the Bellator women’s flyweight title? This question is because the champion is currently fighting in a tournament for another organization:
“That’s the question. I’ve been asked the same thing, and I’m not sure. When I got offered the opportunity to be part of the PFL season, I said I absolutely want to do it, the opportunity to have that belt. But also the prospect to be able to do title defenses as Bellator flyweight champion, I would love that as well. So I’m not sure where I stand with them, I do know that I’m participating in that tournament, and that’s the only thing I do know.”
No Easy Opponent
Liz Carmouche also admitted how the million dollar purse is a big motivator for the champion. The opportunity to hold two belts in two different organizations played a big part in the decision-making. This was when she stated:
“It’s a title in a new organization. That’s a lot cooler. I only have one belt, so to have an opportunity to have a second one sitting on my shelf looks way cooler to me.”
When you are a champion in a division you can go ahead and watch other prospects in a title eliminator fight, but this is no longer the case in a tournament format like the PFL season. This is due to so many different scenarios playing a part in the overall outcome. While speaking about this Carmouche also revealed that she is impressed with the strength of opposition at offer:
“On all the females. I think that they put together a solid tournament,” she expressed, while giving the women their props:
“There’s not a female in there that isn’t dangerous.”
While there is no easy fight to be had in the competition. She did, however, pick out former UFC fighter Talia Santos and PFL Europe Champion Dakota Ditcheva as the strongest competition. This is due to them both being the most well-rounded fighters in the tournament this year.
