Liz Carmouche

Liz Carmouche (born February 19, 1984) is an American mixed martial arts fighter currently signed to Bellator MMA, where she is the current Bellator Women's Flyweight World Champion.

Carmouche competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the Women's Flyweight and Women's Bantamweight divisions.

At the time of her UFC departure, she was #4 in the UFC women's flyweight rankings.

Carmouche competed in the first ever women's MMA match in the UFC when she competed against Ronda Rousey for the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship at UFC 157.

She went to Okinawa Christian School International in Japan graduating in the class of 2003.

Prior to becoming a professional MMA fighter, Carmouche spent five years in the Marine Corps as an aviation electrician during which she did three tours of duty in the Middle East.

Her nickname is Girl-Rilla, earned from her muscular physique and strength that outperforms male counterparts.

She currently resides in San Diego, California, and trains at San Diego Combat Academy.

She is currently attending San Diego City College studying Kinesiology.

Carmouche started her professional career in 2010, winning her first three fights via knockout or submission.

On August 13, 2010, she made her Strikeforce debut at Strikeforce Challengers 10 in a reserve bout for their one-night Women's Welterweight tournament.

She defeated Colleen Schneider via unanimous decision after two rounds.

Carmouche returned to the promotion at Strikeforce Challengers 12 on November 19, 2010, where she defeated Jan Finney via TKO in the third round.

On February 23, 2011, it was announced that number one title contender Miesha Tate had suffered a knee injury and that Carmouche would step in on short notice to face Women's Bantamweight (135 lbs) champion Marloes Coenen on March 5, 2011, at Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson.

Carmouche was defeated via triangle choke in the fourth round, after dominating two of the previous rounds.

On July 22, 2011, Carmouche faced Sarah Kaufman at Strikeforce Challengers: Voelker vs. Bowling III in Las Vegas, Nevada.

She was defeated by unanimous decision.

Carmouche was scheduled to return to Strikeforce to face Sara McMann at Strikeforce: Cormier vs. Mir on November 3, 2012, but the event was cancelled.

Carmouche faced Ashleigh Curry at Invicta Fighting Championships 1 on April 28, 2012.

She won the fight via TKO in the first round.

Carmouche faced Kaitlin Young at Invicta Fighting Championships 2 on July 28, 2012.

She won the fight via submission due to a rear-naked choke in the second round.

It was announced at the UFC on Fox: Henderson vs. Diaz pre-fight press conference by UFC President Dana White that former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey would be the very first UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion.

It was confirmed by White that Carmouche would be challenging Rousey for the Women's Bantamweight title at UFC 157.

In the early part of the first round, Carmouche locked in a standing rear-naked choke/face crank on Rousey.

However, Rousey escaped and eventually finished the fight by armbar with 11 seconds left in the first round.

Carmouche was expected to face Miesha Tate at UFC on Fox 8 on July 27, 2013.

However, Tate was pulled from the bout to participate as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter 18.

Carmouche instead faced promotional newcomer Jéssica Andrade.

She won the fight by TKO in round two, earning her first win inside the Octagon.

In her third UFC fight, Carmouche faced Alexis Davis on November 6, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 31.

She lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Carmouche faced Miesha Tate in the co-main event at UFC on Fox 11.

She lost the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision.

Carmouche faced Lauren Murphy on April 4, 2015, at UFC Fight Night 63.

A two-time title challenger, Carmouche also challenged for the UFC Women's Flyweight Championship in August 2019 against Valentina Shevchenko.

Carmouche was the first openly lesbian fighter in the UFC and was praised by company president Dana White for coming out.

As of April 26, 2022, she is #2 in the Bellator Women's pound-for-pound Rankings.

Carmouche was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and grew up in Okinawa, Japan.

She is of Lebanese, Irish and Cajun French descent.