Jena Bishop Stuns Liz Carmouche to Claim PFL Women's Flyweight Title

Jena Bishop is the new PFL women's flyweight champion. The 40-year-old survived a brutal first-round knockdown and ground her way past Liz Carmouche over five hard rounds, winning a unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) in the PFL Chicago main event on Friday night to claim the vacant title and avenge the most painful loss of her career.

The rematch at the Wintrust Arena told a very different story from their August 2025 meeting, when Carmouche stopped Bishop with a third-round knockout to win the PFL World Tournament. This time Bishop's jiu-jitsu and relentless back control told over 25 minutes, and when the scorecards were read, she had the belt she had been chasing for more than a year.

The victory also set up one of the most anticipated fights in the promotion's history: unbeaten star Dakota Ditcheva climbed into the cage afterward and faced off with the new champion, with a title clash now looming in early 2027.

Round by round: survival, then control

Carmouche, the former Bellator champion and tournament winner, started like a woman who expected a repeat of 2025. She hammered Bishop with punches in the opening round, dropped her with a short hook and poured on ground-and-pound. A massive right hand right at the horn nearly finished the fight, but Bishop survived to see round two.

The challenger regrouped. In the second, Bishop took Carmouche down in the centre of the cage, only for the action to be halted after a burst of ground-and-pound landed on the back of the head. The referee restarted the fight on the feet with no point deduction, costing Bishop her dominant position, but she kept coming forward.

Round three belonged to Bishop. A well-timed trip put Carmouche on the canvas, and Bishop took the back with a body triangle, working a rear-naked choke that had the veteran in real danger. Carmouche stayed calm and defended to the horn, but the momentum had shifted.

The fourth was Carmouche's best of the back half, with the cleaner striking and a bleeding nose that never slowed her. But in the fifth, Bishop dragged the fight back to the ground and spent long stretches riding Carmouche's back, threatening choke after choke. Carmouche defended brilliantly to the final bell, yet the damage and control time were done. All three judges scored it 48-47.

Revenge a year in the making

The history between the two made the result all the more significant. Carmouche's knockout win in August 2025 had derailed Bishop's title ambitions and left her with a 12-3 record to rebuild. Bishop did just that, entering Chicago on a three-fight winning streak, and she told reporters she had never doubted the outcome.

"I thought it was either going to be really easy or it would be really tough, and I was prepared for it either way," Bishop said, via Uncrowned. "I knew this was going to happen and I knew I was coming home with this belt."

For Carmouche, 26-9, the defeat ends her bid to add the inaugural divisional crown to her tournament trophy and sends her back to the drawing board in a division she has ruled for years.

Ditcheva looms

The night's biggest talking point outside the main event came moments after the decision. Ditcheva (16-0), the PFL's brightest star, entered the cage and stood face to face with Bishop in a staredown that had the Chicago crowd on its feet.

Ditcheva revealed earlier in the night that she has been cleared for full-contact training after breaking both of her hands in her last outing, a decision win in July, and told the broadcast team she wants the winner in early 2027. The two have history of their own: Ditcheva knocked Bishop out in the first round in August 2024.

That makes Bishop's path as champion anything but comfortable. She has now lost to Ditcheva by knockout and beaten Carmouche by decision in rematches, and the unbeaten Briton, 28, represents the division's most dangerous threat.

Co-main and undercard

The co-feature was another rematch, and it delivered controversy. Featherweight Timur Khizriev stayed unbeaten at 19-0 with a split-decision win over Gabriel Braga (29-28, 28-29, 29-28), surviving two knockdowns in a wild second round to edge the heated three-round battle.

The rest of the 13-bout card leaned heavily toward finishes. Sarvarjon Khamidov slept Rafael do Nascimento with a left hand in the first round, Eliezer Kubanza smashed Trey Waters in 1:36, and Emiliano Sordi finished Abraham Bably by second-round TKO. Kevin Pease, Shannon Clark, Gamid Khizriev and others all scored stoppages on a card that streamed on ESPN platforms.

For Bishop, though, the night was about one thing: the belt. After the heartbreak of 2025, the 40-year-old jiu-jitsu black belt is a PFL champion, and the Ditcheva fight now shapes as the biggest women's bout the promotion can make.