Jena Bishop believed long ago that she could not only compete successfully in mixed martial arts, but could turn out to be the best in the world.
An accomplished grappler who turned pro in MMA in 2021 at 35 years old, she now is positioned perfectly to prove her belief to the world. She'll faced Dakota Ditcheva Friday in Nashville, Tenn., in the opening round of the 2024 PFL playoffs. A win over the highly regarded Ditcheva, who is No. 16 on the KevinIole.com women's pound-for-pound list, will put her one victory away from realizing her goal.
There is also the small matter of the $1 million prize that goes along with a PFL championship.
"For me, it's proving to myself what I've always known, that I can do it all," Bishop said. "I just really want to prove that I can be the best and that I am the best."
PFL
Pulling off her goal is going to be an arduous task because she's in the deepest division in the UFC. Ditcheva has become a sensation and is looking like she may be the most talented fighter the PFL has ever developed. She's 12-0 with 11 finishes and had finishes of Lisa Mauldin and Chelsea Hackett in the first round this year. Both of those came via body shots.
Ray Sefo, the former kick boxing star who is the PFL's president of fighter operations, raved about Ditcheva.
"Dakota is becoming a star," he said. "She has a very aggressive style. She's a good-looking lady. She's hungry. But Jena is no walk in the park. In terms of striking, Dakota I think definitely has the edge in that department, but in terms of grappling, this is where Dakota is really going to have to test her grappling and see how she does. But I would not be surprised if she makes it to the finals."
Ditcheva is a significant favorite at DraftKings, where she is -425. Bishop, who is 7-1 and lost a split decision to Taila Santos in her most recent fight, is +330.
Santos is best known for dropping a split decision in a UFC women's flyweight title fight to then-champ Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 275 in Singapore on June 12, 2022. It was a bout many thought Santos won.
Bishop felt going into the tournament Santos would be her toughest test.
"To me, that was the toughest fight to make in the entire [division]," Bishop said of Santos. "She is the top person in the entire division for me to go against. I thought I'd done enough to win the fight. I felt I had the bigger moments inside the fight, but it was really, really close. Things didn't go my way, but ultimately, I feel like it worked out better for me in a sense. At the end, in a way it's like that fight didn't even matter, but then I got the chance to test myself against one of the best flyweights that there is."
Santos is a significant favorite over Carmouche, who entered the PFL season despite having been the Bellator champion. Carmouche wanted to chase the $1 million prize for the winner and entered the season. She had a decision win over Juliana Velasquez and a submission via arm bar with just eight seconds left over Kana Watanabe.
Carmouche is 40 now, but she remains in elite shape and can push a vigorous pace.
"That's a tough fight for both of them," Sefo said. "To your point, both Liz and Taila have come out and adapted to the regular season very well. They each won their two regular season fights. These two are at the top of the food chain when you look at the talent. It will be interesting to see who comes through."
There are two heavyweight playoff bouts Friday. Denis Goltsov meets Tim Johnson and Oleg Popov faces Linton Vassell.