The PFL women's flyweight title will soon have a new owner, and Jena Bishop is more motivated than ever to be the one to claim it.
On Oct. 16 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Bishop (11-3) rematches former Bellator champion and PFL tournament winner Liz Carmouche for the vacant 125-pound title, left open after a Dakota Ditcheva injury. They first met last August in the PFL tournament final, where Carmouche (26-8) won by TKO in the third round.
That first fight wasn't all one-way traffic, which gives Bishop confidence going into the rematch. In the second round, Bishop had Carmouche in serious trouble from submission attempts, but she was unable to find one to end the fight. Ahead of their vacant flyweight title bout, Bishop is not only eager to get
one back on Carmouche to claim the title, but also to defeat someone she has lost respect for personally.
"I have a lot of respect for anybody who steps in the cage, so you know, there's respect for her in the fact that she's done this for a long time," Bishop told MMA Junkie Radio. "As a fighter, I have some respect for her. As a person – umm, maybe not so much.
"There's just things that – the way that she carries herself inside the training room. There's a lot of stories that I've heard that I'm like, when you're training, especially in a sport like this that you have to have trust in your training partners. Trust that people are trying to keep you safe. Especially when you're getting ready for a fight. I need to have a lot of trust in the people that – you know, we're trying to hurt each other like for real, but not actually in the training room and not when I'm getting ready to fight. I don't think that she really cares about her training partners."
Since losing her first matchup against Carmouche, Bishop, 40, has gotten back on track with a pair of first-round submissions against Borena Tsertsvadze and Ariane Lipski. This time around, she's confident in her ability to tap Carmouche, 42, to win gold.
"I think I know what that ending is, and I do see it going my way, and me getting that submission," Bishop said. "... I love fighting; I love competing. Regardless of who's standing across from me, I am fighting for the title. That's what I've wanted. That's what I've been working towards. So, getting that belt and getting that win is the thing that motivates me every single day I'm in the cage."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Jena Bishop reveals extra motivation for Liz Carmouche title rematch at PFL Chicago
