Liz
Carmouche says she got the better of Jena Bishop
before their first professional meeting.
Carmouche (26-8) and Bishop (11-3) will fight for the inaugural
Professional Fighters League women’s flyweight world title on
Oct. 16 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Carmouche defeated Bishop in
the 2025 PFL World Tournament final and says she previously
submitted her during sparring.
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Liz Carmouche recalls emotional sparring session with Jena
Bishop ahead of PFL Chicago title rematch
According to Carmouche, Bishop visited her gym as a guest sparring
partner when both were training in San Diego. Carmouche said she
welcomed the challenge of grappling with Bishop, an established
jiu-jitsu black belt.
Carmouche described Bishop as initially reluctant to engage but
aggressive once the session began. She said Bishop cried after
being submitted, a reaction that surprised her given the intensity
of the sparring.
A flyweight
title fight headlines PFL Chicago: Tune in on Friday, Oct. 16 at 11
p.m. ET on ESPN 2.
“She finally came over, and I was excited… Here’s somebody who’s
been a black belt since 2013,” Carmouche told Ariel Helwani.
“MMA-wise, I don’t think at that point I had trained with a black
belt in MMA sparring… I was like, man, this is going to be a good
challenge. I’m going to get messed up on the ground. I’m inviting
it. I like challenging people in their strong suits, and if I get
outworked, that means I have room for growth… She was being super
dodgy and finally she was kind of pushed to get into it. Definitely
came out wanting to go super hard and being really aggressive. Then
when on the ground, I had a chance to submit her, and she cried
that she lost… Seeing her crying just definitely seemed like that
was a little bit too emotional for somebody that was going that
hard.”
Carmouche enters
PFL Chicago on a four-fight winning streak. Bishop has
rebounded with two consecutive submission victories since losing to
Carmouche last year.
Liz
Carmouche recounts the time she made Jena Bishop
cry during a sparring session: „She finally came over, and I was
excited. Here’s somebody who’s been a black belt since 2013. I was
like, man, this is going to be a good challenge. I’m going to get
messed up on the ground. I’m inviting it. She was being super
dodgy, and finally she was kind of pushed to get into it.
Definitely came out wanting to go super hard and being really
aggressive. Then when on the ground, I had a chance to submit her,
and she cried that she lost. Seeing her crying just definitely
seemed like that was a little bit too emotional for somebody that
was going that hard.“— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
October 14, 2026