Tag: Liz Carmouche

Bellator 278 results: Liz Carmouche rallies for TKO to become champion; Juliana Velasquez disagrees with stoppage

Bellator has a new flyweight champion – and the former titleholder disagrees with it.

HONOLULU – [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] finally can call herself the champion of a major MMA promotion.

At Bellator 278, Carmouche (16-7 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) defeated then-sitting champion [autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag] (12-1 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) with a TKO stoppage at 4:47 of Round 4. The bout served as the main event for the card which took place Friday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center as the first of a two-night doubleheader at the venue.

The first four rounds were somewhat closely contested. Carmouche found success with her leg kicks early, but Velasquez made her pay in the boxing department. Two times Velasquez knocked Carmouche down with a punch.

As the bout entered the championship rounds, however, the momentum swung slightly toward Carmouche, who took the fight to the canvas. From there, Carmouche moved to the crucifix position and landed short punches to the head of Velasquez, who found herself stuck.

Referee Mike Beltran saw enough and jumped in, a decision Velasquez and her team made visibly and audibly noted they disagreed with. Immediately after the stoppage, the crowd of first responders, veterans, and military personnel went into a frenzy for one of their own. Meanwhile, Velasquez and her corners pled their case to Beltran, who wasn’t wanting to hear it.

With the victory, Carmouche remains undefeated in Bellator and extends her winning streak to four. As for Velasquez, she loses for the first time in her professional career and it comes by stoppage.

The Bellator 278 results include:

  • Liz Carmouche def. Juliana Velasquez via TKO (elbows) – Round 4, 4:47 – for women’s flyweight title
  • Enrique Barzola def. Nikita Mikhailov via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – bantamweight grand prix wild card
  •  Danny Sabatello def. Jornel Lugo via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26) – bantamweight grand prix wild card
  • Grant Neal def. Christian Edwards via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Manny Muro def. Nate Andrews via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
  • Weber Almeida def. Fabricio Franco via TKO (referee stoppage) – Round 1, 3:01
  • Dante Schiro def. Scotty Hao via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:03
  • Blake Perry def. Makoa Cooper via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 2, 4:14

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Bellator 278 video: Juliana Velasquez, Liz Carmouche make weight for title fight in Hawaii

The main event for the first of back-to-back Bellator shows in Hawaii is official after Juliana Velasquez and Liz Carmouche made weight.

HONOLULU – The main event for the first of two back-to-back Bellator shows in Hawaii is official after both title fighters made weight.

Women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag] (12-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) and challenger [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] (16-7 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) both hit their marks on the scale Thursday in Honolulu to make the Bellator 278 headliner official.

Velasquez was the first fighter to the scale in the one-hour official weigh-in window. She came in under the title-fight limit at 124.8 pounds. Carmouche was right behind her and was 125 on the nose.

Check out their trips to the scale in the video above.

Bellator 278 takes place Friday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. It is the first of back-to-back Bellator events in Hawaii’s capital city. The main card airs on Showtime following prelims on MMA Junkie.

Bellator 278 breakdown: Juliana Velasquez vs. Liz Carmouche ‘deceptively tricky’ to pick. Here’s why.

MMA Junkie fight analyst Dan Tom takes a closer look at the Bellator 278 main event between Juliana Velasquez and Liz Carmouche.

MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the Bellator’s top bouts. Today, we look at the main event for Bellator 278.

Bellator 278 takes place Friday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card airs on Showtime.

The future is never certain, so Liz Carmouche not taking Bellator 278 title opportunity for granted

Currently 0-3 in major promotional title opportunities, Liz Carmouche has the mindset that she needs to capitalize on the opportunity in front of her.

HONOLULU – [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] is familiar and comfortable in title opportunities, but she isn’t taking her Bellator 278 shot for granted.

Friday, Carmouche (16-7 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) will, for the fourth time, challenge for a major promotional title when she takes on champion Juliana Velasquez (12-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) in a five-round main event.

The first three title shots didn’t go her way. In Strikeforce, she lost to Marloes Coenen. She lost to Ronda Rousey in the first women’s title fight in promotional history at UFC 157, then lost to Valentina Shevchenko six and a half years later at UFC Fight Night 156. Now, she has a fourth chance.

“It feels great, not only because this is just putting into fruition everything I’ve been talking about and dreaming about, but also I get to do it under the Bellator banner,” Carmouche told MMA Junkie at a news conference Wednesday.

Carmouche is 38 and one of the oldest fighters on the promotion’s roster, but neither of those facts mean she isn’t improving. In her title shot-clinching victory, Carmouche ran through Japanese standout Kana Watanabe with a 35-second TKO, the first stoppage due to strikes for he since 2013.

“It took a little bit to kick in, because you still have the adrenaline of having anticipated 15 minutes,” Carmouche said. “Going out there when it’s that brief, it’s like, ‘I still have more than what I’m putting out here.’ I was really happy with my performance, was really happy I was able to set that stone in the path to going for that belt.

Yes, she’s rolling. Carmouche argues at this point in time, she could be in the best form of her entire career. However, she is treating this moment like it could be her last crack at gold, a harsh but true reality for a fighter who has competed as a professional for over a decade.

“Each of my fights with Bellator, I’ve been thinking about that exact thing,” Carmouche said. “I have to capitalize and live in the moment and give everything I have in this fight, not focusing (too far ahead). As much as I focused toward the belt and that was the same when I came to Bellator, I was really identifying each fight as being the most important fight I had and tried to put everything into it. This is the same. This has to be the most important fight, get the belt, and the next one will be the most important fight, and so-on and so-forth.”

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Bellator 278 takes place Friday at Neal S. Blaisdell Center with the main card airing on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie. Those in attendance, however, will be solely military members, first responders, and veterans. Bellator will not be selling tickets to the general public.

For Carmouche, knowing that is special. A former marine, Carmouche is embedded in many circles of the select Bellator 278 attendee demographics, so she’s proud to compete in front of her peers.

“(It’s) super special,” Carmouche said. “I was just telling someone the other day, most of my friends are either first responders, veterans, or active duty military. Everybody that’s coming out to see it that we know, they’re all first responders, military, or veteran. It means a lot to be able to give back to that community, to be able to put on a show for people I care so much about – because they’re also my friends, but also knowing how much … it makes such a difference in their lives to watch this, it means the world to me.”

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Bellator 278 pre-event facts: Can Liz Carmouche do what she couldn’t with UFC?

Check out all the facts and figures about Bellator 278, which takes place Friday with a Juliana Velasquez vs. Liz Carmouche title fight.

Bellator kicks off its weekend doubleheader on Friday with Bellator 278, which takes place at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu and airs on Showtime following prelims streamed on MMA Junkie.

The first of three championship fights for the promotion on the weekend headlines the event. Women’s flyweight titleholder [autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag] (12-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) returns to action when she puts her belt up for grabs for the first time against former UFC title challenger [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] (16-7 MMA, 3-0 BMMA), who looks to claim gold at 38 years old.

For more on the numbers behind the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s pre-event facts about Bellator 278.

Bellator 278 headliner set with Juliana Velasquez defending against Liz Carmouche

Liz Carmouche, a former marine, will fight for Bellator gold in front of a crowd of military veterans and first responders in Hawaii.

The first even of a two-night doubleheader for Bellator in Honolulu has its headliner.

Women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag] (12-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) will look to keep her undefeated record intact and defend her title when she takes on former UFC title challenger [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] (16-7 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) in the five-round main event of Bellator 278.

The event takes place April 22 in front of a crowd of military veterans, frontline workers, and first responders at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena, the same venue that hosts Bellator 279 the following day.

Two people with knowledge of the matchup recently confirmed the booking to MMA Junkie but asked to remain anonymous as the promotion has yet to make an announcement.

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Velasquez, 35, won the promotion’s 125-pound title in December 2020 when she defeated long-reigning champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane by unanimous decision. She defended her title for the first time at Bellator 262 last July when she defeated Denise Kielholtz by split decision.

Carmouche, 38, served three tours as a marine in the Middle East prior to her fighting career. Following the conclusion of her UFC tenure in 2019, she signed with Bellator. She enters her first Bellator title challenge with three straight wins in the promotion, including a recent 35-second TKO of Kana Watanabe.

With the addition, the Bellator 278 lineup includes:

  • Champion Juliana Velasquez vs. Liz Carmouche – for women’s flyweight title
  • Enrique Barzola vs. Josh Hill
  • Cee Jay Hamilton vs. Jared Scoggins

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Scott Coker: Bellator targeting Liz Carmouche to fight Juliana Velasquez for title in April

Bellator president Scott Coker has confirmed that Liz Carmouche is next in line for a flyweight title shot.

Bellator president Scott Coker has confirmed that [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] is next in line for a flyweight title shot.

Coker stated that former UFC title challenger Carmouche (16-7 MMA, 3-0 BMMA), who’s coming off a 35-second knockout of Kana Watanabe in June, is projected to challenge Bellator flyweight champion [autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag] (12-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) in the first quarter of 2022.

“I believe that fight will happen in April,” Coker told MMA Junkie. “I think that’s when we were told Velasquez would be ready to go so. As soon as she’s ready, we’ll get her back in there, but I think April is the date.

“All of our champions, the launch of the tournament, the finals of our light heavyweight tournament, the (Michael Page) fight, Juliana Velasquez, Cyborg – all these fights will happen let’s say between January and April. It’s kind of what we’re shooting for.”

Following her title defense over Denise Kielholtz at Bellator 262 in July, Velasquez said she expects to either defend her title against Carmouche or former champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, who she dethroned in December 2020.

Macfarlane hasn’t competed since losing her title to Velasquez and has been sidelined due to knee surgery. Coker provided an update on the former champion and is expecting her to return right around the time of the title fight  between Velasquez and Carmouche.

“We have been talking to her,” Coker said. “She’s coming off a surgery so she’s just been recovering and rehabilitating, so she’s been going through a lot of treatment on her knee. I talked to her probably two, three weeks ago, she feels that she’ll be ready sometime in April or May.”

To see the full interview with Coker, check out the video below.

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Bellator 262 faceoff video highlights: Juliana Velasquez, Denise Kielholtz take long look

Neither woman wanted to back down ahead of their flyweight title fight.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Bellator makes its return Friday, and the women’s flyweight title will be on the line.

Bellator 262 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena with the main card airing on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie. Atop the bill is 125-pound champion [autotag]Juliana Velasquez[/autotag] making her first title defense against [autotag]Denise Kielholtz[/autotag].

The co-main event features two friends fighting each other as heavyweights [autotag]Tyrell Fortune[/autotag] and [autotag]Matt Mitrione[/autotag] will meet inside the cage.

Following Thursday’s official Bellator 262 weigh-ins, the athletes came face to face for some traditional pre-fight staredowns.

Check out the faceoffs below, including Velasquez vs. Kielholtz, Fortune vs. Mitrione, the return of [autotag]Diana Asvaragova[/autotag], and more.

Bellator 261 results: Liz Carmouche swarms Kana Watanabe for 35-second knockout

Liz Carmouche recorded the fastest victory of her career against Kana Watanabe at Bellator 261.

[autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] wasted no time making her statement for a title shot at Bellator 261.

Not only did Carmouche (16-7 MMA, 3-0 BMMA) take the unbeaten record from [autotag]Kana Watanabe[/autotag] (10-1-1 MMA, 2-1 BMMA), but she did it in a mere 35 seconds, finishing the women’s flyweight co-headliner by knockout at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

The former UFC title challenger came out of the gate on fire. She pressured Watanabe and hurt her with a big right hand, forcing the Japanese fighter to back up against the fence.

Carmouche was relentless once she had Watanabe in trouble, throwing a flurry of strikes and tagging her opponent over and over. Although Watanabe didn’t go down, the referee decided he’d seen enough and waved it off.

It was Carmouche’s intention to deliver a memorable performance, and she did just that with the fastest win of her career. Now she wants the winner of the next title fight between Juliana Velasquez and Denise Kielholtz on July 17.

“I wanted that finish. I want that belt and I know tonight I needed to put on a strong finish,” Carmouche said in her post-fight interview with John McCarthy. “I wanted her, when she looks back at that loss on her record, she remembers me and a hard finish.”

The latest Bellator 261 results include:

  • Liz Carmouche def. Kana Watanabe via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:35
  • Sidney Outlaw def. Myles Jury via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 4:44
  • Daniel Weichel def. Keoni Diggs via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
  • Christian Edwards def. Simon Biyong via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
  • John De Jesus def. John Teixeira via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
  • Taylor Johnson def. Lance Wright via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:58
  • Jaylon Bates def. Cody Matthews via submission (armbar) – Round 2, 4:04
  • Corey Samuels def. Isaiah Hokit via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:10
  • Soren Bak def. Bobby Lee via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27)

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Bellator 261 faceoff video highlights: Co-main event staring contest nearly doesn’t end

Check out the ceremonial weigh-in faceoffs ahead of Bellator 261 at Mohegan Sun.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Bellator makes its return Friday, and the promotion is implementing an interim heavyweight title.

Bellator 261 takes place at Mohegan Sun Arena with the main card airing on Showtime after prelims on MMA Junkie. Atop the bill are top heavyweight contenders [autotag]Tim Johnson[/autotag] (15-6 MMA, 3-2 BMMA) and [autotag]Valentin Moldavsky[/autotag] (10-1 MMA, 5-0 BMMA). They will compete for the interim strap in the absence of undisputed champion Ryan Bader, who is partaking in the promotion’s light heavyweight grand prix.

The co-main event features a women’s flyweight fight. Former UFC title challenger [autotag]Liz Carmouche[/autotag] (15-7 MMA, 2-0 BMMA) faces [autotag]Kana Watanabe[/autotag] (10-0-1 MMA, 2-0 BMMA).

Following Thursday’s official Bellator 261 weigh-ins, the athletes came face to face for some traditional pre-fight staredowns.

Check out the faceoffs below, including Johnson vs. Moldavsky, Carmouche vs. Watanabe, [autotag]Keoni Diggs[/autotag] vs. [autotag] Daniel Weichel[/autotag], [autotag]Myles Jury[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Sidney Outlaw[/autotag], and [autotag]Simon Biyong[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Christian Edwards[/autotag].