“Liz Carmouche with some of the worst fight IQ you’ll ever see to lose the title. 34 professional fights and sometimes you still make rookie mistakes,” Jed Meshew wrote on X moments after the rematch ended at PFL Chicago on October 16, 2026.
That’s a harsh verdict on a veteran, and Meshew didn’t spell out which decisions he meant. The numbers in his post do check out. Carmouche came into the night at 26-8, which is exactly 34 pro fights, and that résumé includes the first women’s fight in UFC history against Ronda Rousey at UFC 157, a 2019 flyweight title shot against Valentina Shevchenko, and the final reign as Bellator women’s flyweight champion. She also won the 2025 PFL women’s flyweight tournament.
She had a rough week before she ever stepped in the cage. Carmouche had to shave her head on the scale to make weight, which is about as close to the line as a title fighter can cut it. I’ll leave the cause and effect to people who saw the cut up close, but nobody wants their championship week to end with clippers at the weigh-in.
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The win belongs to Jena Bishop, and it carries some history. Carmouche stopped her in the third round of the 2025 tournament final at PFL 9 in Charlotte on August 15, 2025. Fourteen months later, with the inaugural PFL women’s flyweight championship on the line, Bishop flipped the result. The PFL’s own feed flagged her landing in the final round before declaring her the new champion.
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Bishop, 40, entered at 11-3 and ranked fourth by the PFL. Her MMA career only started in 2021, but she arrived with serious credentials as a 2017 IBJJF No-Gi world champion at black belt. Her 2026 run before this fight was two first-round submissions, over Borena Tsertsvadze in April and an armbar on former UFC fighter Ariane Lipski da Silva in June.
Next up
The promotion didn’t wait long to sell the first defense. Dakota Ditcheva and Bishop went face to face in the SmartCage right after the title fight, according to the PFL’s account. That’s the matchup with the sharpest edge for Bishop, because Ditcheva stopped her in the 2024 semifinals at PFL 7. Bishop has now avenged one loss to win the belt. Her first defense could give her the chance to avenge the other.
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