Liz Carmouche stops Juliana Velasquez with elbows to capture Bellator women’s flyweight title

Liz Carmouche became the Bellator MMA women’s flyweight champion on Friday by defeating Juliana Velasquez in the Bellator 278 main event.

Carmouche had fought for a UFC championship twice, once in two different weight classes. She came up short at bantamweight against Ronda Rousey and at flyweight against Valentina Shevchenko. On Friday, “Girl-Rilla” became a Bellator MMA champion.

It was a hard-fought fight with Carmouche having success but having to come back from adversity. Velasquez scored two knockdowns via punches during the title bout. Carmouche took the fight to the ground in rounds three and four and was able to secure a finish.

She moved to side control and put Velasquez in the crucifix position and delivered elbows until the referee stepped in late in the fourth round.

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BELLATOR 278 Official Results:

Main Card

#2-Liz Carmouche (16-7) defeated C-Juliana Velasquez (12-1) via KO (elbows) at 4:47 of round four
Enrique Barzola (18-5-2) defeated Nikita Mikhailov (9-2) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Danny Sabatello (11-1) defeated #9-Jornel Lugo (8-1) via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Grant Neal (7-1) defeated Christian Edwards (5-2) via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Manny Muro (13-7) defeated Nate Andrews (16-5) via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Preliminary Card

Weber Almeida (6-1) defeated Fabricio Franco (8-5) TKO (leg kick) at 3:01 of round one
Dante Schiro (9-3) defeated Scotty Hao (170) via TKO (strikes) at 1:03 of round three
Blake Perry (1-0) defeated Makoa Cooper (1-1) via submission (anaconda choke) at 4:14 of round two