When it comes to her 2022, flyweight Liz Carmouche sees the year as a success not so much for winning a Bellator championship, but for the fact that she had to win two fights to prove she did it. She returns for her next defense at Bellator 294 on Friday.
After Carmouche’s title win over Juliana Velasquez in April of 2022 was questioned because of how it was stopped, the two rematched in December with Carmouche coming away with the unanimous decision victory.
“2022 definitely had some ups and downs,” Carmouche told MMAWeekly.com. “The achievement of the title didn’t have the luster that I was anticipating just because of the controversy that was placed of the results of the fight (against Velasquez in April).
“But because of (the controversial ending) it just made it much more desirable for me to finish the next fight with no questions and all assurances that this was my belt and I won that fight the first time. I was able to do that, and finish her strongly and finish up 2022 on a strong note.”
Thirteen years and 25 fights into her MMA career, Carmouche continues to push herself to add new things not only for themselves but to help improve the skillset she already possesses.
“I always try to grow because I find that sometimes I learn new things that work better for my game so I can implement those faster and sharper,” said Carmouche.
“At the same time I want to be as sharp as possible and make sure that I’m going out there with as much aggression and (make it as) one-sided as possible. So I have to sharpen myself but am always trying to evolve and grow my game and learn as much as possible.”
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Liz Carmouche defends against DeAnna Bennett at Bellator 294
On Friday in Honolulu, Hawaii, Carmouche (18-7) will look to defend her title for the second time when she faces DeAnna Bennett (13-7-1) in the 125-pound championship Bellator 294 main event. Carmouche defeated Bennett via third-round submission in 2020.
“I felt like there were other people in the Top 5 that were more deserving of an opportunity to fight for this belt, that I was excited in facing someone that I hadn’t faced before, or someone who was more worthy of a rematch, so this wasn’t at the top of my list,” Carmouche said of facing Bennett.
“But I’m also excited about the possibility that we can go out there and showcase something that we weren’t able to do the first time (in our first fight in 2020).”
While she’s achieved her goal of becoming a world champion, Carmouche still has things she wants to accomplish, but has to get past Bennett first before moving on to those remaining goals.
“I definitely have more bucket list items that I’m trying to mark off and things I want to achieve, but I understand for those things to happen I can’t look past the goal that is in front of me,” said Carmouche.
“You’ve got to make it to the first stop sign before you can move ahead to the next one, so I’m trying to get through this one and succeed in all the ways I want to achieve in this fight before I move on to the next one.”
Liz Carmouche vs. DeAnna Bennett: First fight at Bellator 246
(Video courtesy of BellatorMMA)
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