Juliana Velasquez eager to win her title back from Liz Carmouche at Bellator 289
Back in April at Bellator 278, former undefeated flyweight champion Juliana Velasquez lost her title to former UFC contender Liz Carmouche in a controversial fourth-round stoppage. The controversy was so important to the former champion, who didn’t believe that the fight should’ve been stopped, that she appealed the decision to the Hawaii State Boxing Commission, although the TKO ruling was upheld and she lost her appeal.
With the controversy surrounding the fight and the fact that it was the first loss of Juliana Velasquez’s professional career, it only made sense for Bellator MMA to book a rematch between the two, and now, they’re set to meet in the co-main event at Bellator 289 this weekend. Though the main event interim bantamweight title fight between Raufeon Stots and Danny Sabatello has rightfully taken all of the spotlight, the fight between Velasquez and Carmouche comes with plenty of intrigue and interest as wel.
In an interview with MyMMANews.com, Juliana Velasquez discussed how she feels she never lost her championship belt to Carmouche, stating that she still doesn’t feel the fight was a loss and the TKO ruling is still wrong. However, no longer looking back, Velasquez said she is looking to prove she is twice as focused, twice as prepared, and more than anything, twice as ready to win her title back this weekend.
Winning her belt back isn’t the only thing on the mind for the former champion, as Velasquez would also go in detail about her plans for 2023 which include her plans to clean out the flyweight division contenders and then call for the promotion to open up the bantamweight division in 2023 or 2024. For Velasquez, getting back her championship is incredibly important to her, as is showing that she’s among the very best in the world as a pound-for-pound best female fighter on the planet, and that’s why she has a focus on cleaning out her division and adding a second belt to her legacy.
Watch the interview below to hear the entire conversation with former champion Juliana Velasquez ahead of Bellator 289.
