Jena Bishop Outlasts Liz Carmouche to Become PFL's First Women's Flyweight Champion

Jena Bishop is the first PFL women's flyweight champion. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt defeated Liz Carmouche by unanimous decision in the five-round main event at Wintrust Arena in Chicago on Friday night, with all three judges scoring the rematch 48-47.

The victory is a measure of revenge more than a year in the making. Carmouche stopped Bishop with a third-round TKO in the 2025 PFL World Tournament final last August, and entered Friday's rematch as the heavy favorite — eight of eleven MMA Junkie pickers backed the former Bellator champion at minus-400 odds, with Bishop at plus-310. Instead, the underdog ground out the win. Bishop scored the fight's four takedowns, repeatedly taking Carmouche's back and threatening with rear-naked chokes through the championship rounds, while Carmouche — who made headlines at Thursday's weigh-ins by cutting off her hair to hit the 125-pound limit — answered with crisp counter striking that kept the decision honest.

At 42, Carmouche falls to 26-9 after a campaign that made her the first woman to headline the UFC's inaugural women's bout in 2013 and later a champion in both Bellator and the PFL tournament. Bishop, 32, moves to 12-3 and has now won three of her last four.

In the co-main event, unbeaten Timur Khizriev (19-0) edged Gabriel Braga via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) in a featherweight rematch, surviving two knockdowns in a furious second round.