At Bellator 294 in Honolulu, Liz Carmouche defended her flyweight championship title for the second time against DeAnna Bennett by submitting her via arm triangle choke at 4:29 in the fourth round. It was unique in that Bennett was ineligible to win the belt after missing weight by 1.2 pounds earlier in the week, meaning Carmouche wasn’t obligated to put her championship on the line. However, Carmouche decided to defend her title. Had she lost, the belt would have been left vacant.
Carmouche’s Fourth Consecutive Finish
Even though Bennett appeared to be on her way to winning the fight, Carmouche’s strength and experience showed in the fourth round, leading to her fourth consecutive finish. Bennett was successful at taking Carmouche down and keeping her on the floor, but Carmouche defended Bennett’s single leg attempt and eventually full-mounted her to set up the finish. The finish was impressive considering Bennett bloodied Carmouche’s nose with ground strikes in the opening round and caused a welt on her forehead in the fourth.
Carmouche said, “The first few rounds, not having to cut the extra weight and being at a championship level, she was able to use that. I knew she wouldn’t have the gas tank though, and that even if I lost those rounds, I would get it back.” Carmouche has now won six in a row in Bellator, and her streak began with a submission victory over Bennett in 2020.
Bennett, who has struggled to make weight even prior to this week’s miss, sees a three-fight win streak snapped. Bellator MMA will stay in Hawaii for another card on Saturday, headlined by a bantamweight tournament fight between Patchy Mix and Raufeon Stots.
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