before their first professional meeting.
Carmouche (26-8) and Bishop (11-3) will fight for the inauguration.
Professional fighter league world women’s flyweight title on Oct. 16 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. Carmouche defeated Bishop in the finals of the 2025 PFL World Tournament and says he submitted him earlier during sparring.
Liz Carmouche recalls emotional sparring with Jena Bishop before PFL Chicago title rematch
According to Carmouche, Bishop visited his gym as a visiting sparring partner when both trained in San Diego. Carmouche said he welcomed the challenge of wrestling Bishop, an established jiu-jitsu black belt.
Carmouche described the bishop as initially reluctant to communicate, but aggressive at the start of the session. He said Bishop cried after the submission, which surprised him given the intensity of the sparring.
“He finally showed up and I was excited… Here’s someone who’s been a black belt since 2013,” Carmouche told Ariel Helwan. “In terms of MMA, I don’t think at that point I had trained as a black belt in MMA sparring…I thought, man, this is going to be a good challenge. I’m going to mess around on the ground. I’m going to call it. I like to challenge people in their strong suits, and if I can push myself, that means I have room to grow…He was kind of pushy at the end. He came out wanting to go really hard and be really aggressive. Then when I was on the ground, I had the opportunity to see him to surrender and she was crying that she lost… Her crying must have seemed too emotional for someone who was having such a hard time.
Carmouche enters
PFL Chicago on a four-game winning streak. Bishop has won two straight by submission since last year’s loss to Carmouche.
Liz Carmouche recounts the time he did Bishop of Jena
cry during a sparring session: “He finally came over and I was excited. Here’s someone who’s been a black belt since 2013. I thought, man, it’s going to be a good challenge. I’m going to mess up on the ground. I’m calling it. He was super weird and he ended up getting pushed really hard and really wanted to get into it. aggressive. Then I had a chance to submit him and he was crying he was crying, definitely seemed too emotional for someone who had such a hard time.— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
14 October 2026
