Liz Carmouche misses weight for PFL 7 semifinals, enters fight with 1-point penalty
Liz Carmouche | Cooper Neill, PFL
Liz Carmouche made a mistake she’d never made before at the official weigh-ins for PFL 7.
The 29-fight veteran came in one pound over the limit for her flyweight tournament semifinal bout against Taila Santos, which takes place at PFL 7 on Friday in Nashville, Tenn. Fighters are allowed an extra pound for a non-title bout, but Carmouche officially weighed in at 127 pounds.
Watch video of Carmouche’s official Thursday morning weigh-in below.
⚖️ #PFLNashville Weigh In Result
Liz Carmouche: 127 lbs*
Taila Santos: 125.8 lbs•Carmouche will be deducted 1 point for league purposes pic.twitter.com/miKq4Q4DaJ
— PFL (@PFLMMA) August 1, 2024
The gaffe comes with a hefty penalty as Carmouche forfeits 20 percent of her purse and enters Friday’s main card opener with a 1-pound penalty on the scorecards. Carmouche vs. Santos is to determine one half of the finals, with a tournament crown and a $1,000,000 prize on the line.
This marks the first time that Carmouche has ever missed weight. “Girl-Rilla” has competed at 135 and 125 pounds, memorably challenging Ronda Rousey for a bantamweight title in the first women’s fight in UFC history, and capturing Bellator’s flyweight championship in 2022.
Carmouche later addressed missing weight in a post on Instagram where she explained what went wrong.
“I am truly sorry to my family, friends, fans and opponent for missing weight,” Carmouche wrote. “In my 30 fights I have never been over. This cut was going as usual. I’m due to start my period on Saturday which sent my weight up a little on Tuesday. I still thought I was within a good range but I was wrong. For some reason my body stopped sweating a pound over. My coaches and I tried to keep cutting but there was nothing left to drop.
“All I can do now is put on the fight you all have been looking forward to. Taila Santos is a game opponent and I know you guys won’t be disappointed in our performances.”
View this post on Instagram
Santos successfully made weight at 125.2 pounds.
In Friday’s other flyweight semifinal, undefeated Dakota Ditcheva fights Jena Bishop. Both fighters made weight for the co-main event encounter.
