Tomorrow night the PFL will officially kickoff their 2024 regular season and they are coming out swinging with the first event. The first event in San Antonio, Texas will feature the heavyweight division and the women’s flyweight division. Regarding the women’s flyweights, there’s a trilogy fight headlining the card.
In the featured flyweight fight, Bellator flyweight champion Liz Carmouche (20-7) will make her PFL debut against a very familiar foe in former Bellator flyweight champion Juliana Velasquez (12-2). Back in 2019, Liz Carmouche lost a decision to Valentina Shevchenko for the UFC flyweight title and that was the final fight on her deal.
She signed with Bellator and immediately won three fights in a row to earn herself a title shot against Velasquez. In the first fight, Carmouche got a crucifix position with just seconds left in the fourth round and earned a TKO win. Many were not happy with the stoppage so they immediately ran it back. In the rematch, Carmouche dominated on her way to a second round submission.
Carmouche is 4-0 with four finishes in her Bellator title fights. Now, she’ll make the jump to the PFL and she’s looking to become a world champion in a second weight class. Velasquez has still only lost to Carmouche in her career and she’s looking to avenge those two losses tomorrow night.
PFL 1 2024
There are a couple of additional flyweight fights you should really pay attention to tomorrow night. Dakota Ditcheva (10-0) will look to continue her dominance as she takes on Lisa Mauldin (6-3) on the main card. Former UFC title challenger Taila Santos (19-3) is also making her promotional debut.
Santos pushed Valentina Shevchenko to the absolute limit in her UFC title shot but lost a very close decision. She suffered a loss in her last time out against Erin Blanchfield and then decided she wanted to take on the PFL. Ilara Joanne (11-8) will be the first one to challenge her in the SmartCage. All the action goes down on ESPN starting at 6:30 PM ET.