At 38-years-old, Liz Carmouche is finally a world champion, but it wasn’t without controversy.
Carmouche earned a shot at the Strikeforce belt in 2011, and two shots at the UFC title in 2013 and in 2019. Unfortunately, she dropped those bouts to talented champions from various eras in Marloes Coenen, Ronda Rousey and Valentina Shevchenko. Friday night was her fourth attempt at taking home a major MMA title, and “Girl-Rilla” succeeded.
She improved to 4-0 in Bellator, defeating Juliana Velasquez and taking her flyweight title in the process with a fourth round TKO. Although no fault of her own, the title win was mired in a bit of controversy.
Carmouche secured an opportune takedown near the end of the fourth round of their title bout at Bellator 278, where she slickly moved to a crucifix position. She started landing some ground and pound from the dominant position, before referee Mike Beltran quickly stepped in to stop the contest. It looked to be a premature stoppage that Velasquez immediately protested, seeing as she wasn’t hurt at all.
Scorecards were also released after, having Velasquez up on all the scorecards on the three rounds prior with 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28.
Due to the stoppage, Carmouche officially won by TKO in the fourth round, and she also took Velasquez’s flyweight title in the process.
#Bellator278 Official Result: Liz @iamgirlrilla Carmouche (17-7) defeated Juliana Velasquez (12-1) via KO (elbows) at 4:47 of round four to become the new @BellatorMMA Flyweight World Champion pic.twitter.com/7detK3n7b1
— Bellator Public Relations (@BellatorPR) April 23, 2022
Watch videos from the fight below, along with full results from the event.
The champ gets a takedown of her own.
We are LIVE on @SHOSports!#Bellator278 pic.twitter.com/8zuUClA5Je
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) April 23, 2022
Catch & Release
We are headed to the championship rounds in the #Bellator278 main event!
Tune in LIVE on @SHOSports to watch @JuVelasquezMMA vs. @IamGirlRilla. pic.twitter.com/z9gdSwQcpp
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) April 23, 2022
Your new flyweight champ is @IAmGirlRilla!
Liz gets it done tonight with a hard-fought win at #Bellator278. pic.twitter.com/u7c4p4NK5V
— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) April 23, 2022
Bellator 278 Results
Liz Carmouche def. Juliana Velasquez by TKO (strikes), 4:47 R4
Enrique Barzola def. Nikita Mikhailov by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Danny Sabatello def. Jornel Lugo by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Grant Neal def. Christian Edwards by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Manny Muro def. Nate Andrews by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Weber Almeida def. Fabricio Franco by TKO (kick), 3:01 R1
Dante Schiro def. Scotty Hao by TKO (strikes), 1:03 R3
Blake Perry def. Makoa Cooper by submission (anaconda choke), 4:14 R2
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