If Scott Coker has his way, an immediate rematch for the Bellator flyweight championship could happen in the near future.
On Friday, Bellator 278 took place in Honolulu, Hawaii to start a doubleheader for the promotion and it was capped off by Liz Carmouche stopping Juliana Velasquez via fourth-round TKO in a tremendous comeback after being down on the scorecards heading into the championship stanzas. While Carmouche was in a dominant position from crucifix on the ground and landing some big elbows, many believe referee Mike Beltran stopped the fight too quickly and that an immediate rematch should be rebooked.
According to Coker, he is open to putting together a second meeting between his top-two flyweights.
“I’m just glad I’m not a judge [or a referee],” Coker told reporters following Bellator 279. “He saw it how he saw it, and that’s something you should maybe ask him the next time you see him. But for me, I don’t mind running that fight back.
“I think that those ladies were definitely scrapping, so to me, I don’t mind running that fight back.”
Velasquez told MMA Fighting on Saturday that she plans to appeal the loss and “would be surprised” if Carmouche signed the dotted line to meet again after suffering her first pro loss.
For Coker, although he had to ready himself for another big event in Honolulu on Saturday, he’s been getting multiple calls for the now former champion’s team on what could be done to change the ruling.
“I’ve been getting calls from her manager, but there’s really nothing we can do. The fight’s over, it’s already done,” Coker said. “We’re going to have conversations with both of them when we get back and we’ll start planning the future for both ladies.”
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