Bellator 278: Liz Carmouche wins flyweight title amid controversy in Hawaii

The story below contains details of what happened at Bellator 278. You can watch the entire event again on BBC iPlayer (UK only) here and highlights on BBC Three from 21:00 on Sunday.

Liz Carmouche finally ended her quest for a world title by capturing the women's flyweight title with a controversial stoppage at Bellator 278 in Hawaii.

The American secured a TKO win against defending champion Juliana Velasquez.

Carmouche, 38, trapped Brazilian Velasquez in a crucifix position and landed repeated elbows to the head.

It prompted referee Mike Beltran to step in and wave off the fight with 13 seconds left in the fourth round.

The decision left 35-year-old Velasquez shocked and upset as she lost both her title and her undefeated record in Honolulu.

The finish was immediately questioned by Bellator co-commentator and respected former referee John McCarthy, who felt the strikes weren't damaging enough to warrant a stoppage.

Reacting to the conclusion of the fight on the live broadcast, he said, "I'm not too sure about that stoppage. I don't think she was eating any heavy shots. I don't think she was in trouble."

His views were echoed by fight analyst and former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson, who said the fight should have continued.

"This is a title fight, and I am a huge Beltran fan as a referee. He's been the ref for some of my fights," he said.

"This fight has to be allowed to continue. The shots are not damaging. They're no different than someone touching you with their palm, or with their glove, lightly.

"Julianna Velasquez has every reason to be upset. I had her up 3-0 going into that round.

"The thing is, this is a title fight. There's so many implications. The title is on the line. You have an undefeated fighter, someone who has shown that she can go through this adversity.

"This not the way you want your title fights to end. I'm hoping to see an automatic rematch."

The result saw Carmouche capture a world title at the fourth time of asking after a rollercoaster 12-year career that saw the United States Marine fall agonisingly short on three prior occasions.

Carmouche's first shot at a title ended in defeat to Dutch women's MMA pioneer Marloes Coenen in the now-defunct promotion Strikeforce in 2011. Two years later, she made history when she competed in the first women's fight in the UFC, but lost out to Ronda Rousey for the women's bantamweight title at UFC 157.

Carmouche later dropped a weight class to flyweight and earned a third shot at championship gold. But, despite taking UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko the distance at UFC on ESPN+ 14 in 2019, she lost out on the scorecards.

But "Girl-Rilla" would not be denied and, after joining Bellator in 2020, hit peak form with four straight victories to finally claim the world title she had been chasing for more than a decade.

Wild cards progress to bantamweight quarter-finals

The event also featured a pair of wild card bouts in the $1m Bellator bantamweight grand prix, with the night's two winners both progressing to the quarter-final stage of the tournament.

Following the withdrawals of reigning bantamweight champion Sergio Pettis and Irish contender James Gallagher due to injury, four more contenders were given the chance to earn a spot in the eight-man tournament, which will see the winner earn $1m and a shot at the Bellator bantamweight title.

In the co-main event, Peruvian contender Enrique Barzola claimed a unanimous decision victory over Russia's Nikita Mikhailov to book his place in the quarter-finals.

Mikhailov, whose only prior loss came as a teenager in his fifth career bout, started well and clipped Barzola with a host of eye-catching strikes, including a spinning back kick that drew applause from the Peruvian fighter.

But Barzola turned the tables on his opponent as he used his wrestling to take Mikhailov to the canvas, then punished him with ground strikes.

That dominance on the mat continued in round two as Barzola twice threatened to finish his opponent, first with a rear-naked choke, then a D'Arce choke. However, on both occasions Mikhailov did well to escape to keep his chances alive.

But Barzola kept up the pressure and dominated the final round to earn scores of 30-27 on all three scorecards and progress to the quarter-finals, where he will face Russia's Magomed Magomedov on 24 June for a place in the semi-finals.

The evening's second bantamweight grand prix wild card bout saw Danny Sabatello claim a lopsided decision victory over the previously undefeated Jornel Lugo.

Sabatello, 29, had a clear wrestling advantage over his opponent, and the American Top Team-trained fighter used his mat skills to dominate number-nine-ranked Lugo, 26, from bell to bell to earn scores of 30-26, 30-26, 30-26 from the three cageside judges.

It means "The Italian Gangster" will now move on to face Brazilian contender Leandro Higo in the quarter-finals of the tournament.