Dakota Ditcheva and Jena Bishop face off in
the SmartCage after the PFL Women’s Flyweight World Championship 🍿
#PFLChicago | Main Card LIVE NOW on ESPN 2
https://t.co/ysS4fjjyVX— PFL (@PFLMMA)
October 17, 2026
In August 2025 at the
Professional Fighters League World Tournament Finals, Jena Bishop
was stopped by Liz
Carmouche in the third round. Since then, she has maintained
that the stoppage was premature and vowed to avenge the loss.
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In the main event of Friday’s
PFL Chicago 2 at Wintrust Arena, Bishop did just that. She
survived a punishing opening round and outlasted Carmouche (26-9)
in a back-and-forth battle to capture the vacant PFL women’s
flyweight championship.
Jena Bishop avenges Liz Carmouche loss with 48-47 decision at
PFL Chicago 2
Carmouche rocked Bishop with punches in the first and dominated the
rest of the round with ground-and-pound, earning 10-8 scores from
all three unofficial Sherdog scorers. But Bishop (12-3) recovered
and used her grappling to neutralize Carmouche for much of the
remaining four rounds. Carmouche had to defend takedowns and
submission attempts but continued to damage Bishop on the feet. Bishop took Carmouche down midway through the fifth and pursued a
rear-naked choke, but “Girl-Rilla” survived until the final bell.
All three judges scored the fight 48-47 for Bishop. None awarded
Carmouche a 10-8 first round.
Gabriel
Braga lost a split decision to Timur
Khizriev in their first meeting in 2024, a fight the Brazilian
believed he won. He sought a different result in the PFL Chicago 2
co-main event but again came up short on the scorecards.
Braga (17-4) hurt Khizriev with a left hook in the first, then
dropped him twice with punches in the second. Khizriev (19-0)
recovered, and the featherweights continued trading strikes, both
bloodied by the final bell. All three unofficial Sherdog scorers
favored Braga 29-28. One official judge agreed, but the other two
scored it 29-28 for Khizriev, giving him another split decision
victory.
Sarvarjon
Khamidov strengthened his case for a PFL bantamweight title
shot by knocking out Rafael
do Nascimento in the first round. The Tajik fighter dropped Do
Nascimento (13-4) with a
short left hook and followed with hammerfists until the Brazilian
lost consciousness. The finish came at 1:49, improving
Khamidov to 18-1.
Oualy
Tandia earned a unanimous decision over J.P. Saint
Louis in their 173-pound catchweight bout. Tandia landed the
cleaner strikes and largely controlled the pace, while Saint Louis
(12-6) found success with takedowns. Tandia (6-0) prevailed by
scores of 29-28, 29-28 and 30-27.
Eliezer
Kubanza overwhelmed Trey Waters
with punches for a first-round stoppage. Kubanza (10-1) dropped
Waters,
then sent him back to the canvas after the American regained his
feet. Follow-up punches ended the welterweight bout at
1:36, dropping Waters to 10-3.
Emiliano
Sordi recovered from a difficult opening round to stop Abraham
Bably with a barrage of punches in the second. Sordi (28-14-1)
hurt Bably and continued attacking with punches and knees until his
opponent collapsed along the fence. The light
heavyweight bout ended at 3:13 of Round 2, dropping Bably to
8-4.
Lightweight contender Kevin Pease
improved to 9-0 with a first-round submission of Cassio
Barao. “Sweet Pea”
worked his way to Barao’s back and secured a rear-naked
choke, forcing the Brazilian (10-2-1) to tap at
3:28.
After absorbing heavy damage in the opening round, Shannon
Clark rallied to stop Lucero
Acosta in the third. As Acosta (6-3) tired, Clark (9-1)
increased her pressure and took control on the ground.
Elbows and punches from top position prompted referee
Kevin
MacDonald to intervene at 1:59.
Gamid
Khizriev dominated Michael
Boylan (6-2) on the ground en route to a first-round technical
knockout. Khizriev (8-0) secured early takedowns, advanced through
dominant positions and
finished with punches and elbows, prompting referee
Nick
Cimmarusti to stop the fight at 3:04.
Bantamweight prospect Cobey Fehr
submitted Rosario
Romero in 58 seconds. Fehr (5-0) secured a takedown,
took Romero’s back and applied a rear-naked choke that rendered his
opponent unconscious. Romero fell to 4-1.
Lightweight prospect Levan
Khabalaev stopped Brock Hamer
in 61 seconds. Khabalaev (7-0)
dropped Hamer with punches and continued attacking with knees and
punches along the fence to force the stoppage. Hamer
fell to 5-2.
Paulina
Wisniewska improved to 8-1 with a unanimous decision over
fellow flyweight Chelsea
Hackett (5-4-1). All three judges scored the fight 29-28.
Noah
Hermosillo opened the preliminary card with a third-round
technical knockout of Caden Cox
(2-1). After two competitive rounds, Hermosillo (2-0)
dropped Cox with a kick to the body and finished with punches at
1:43.