PRAGUE – Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger and current flyweight contender Liz Carmouche is looking to end a bucket-list week with a statement victory to push one step closer to another shot at UFC gold.

Carmouche (12-6 MMA, 4-4 UFC), takes on local favorite Lucie Pudilova (9-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in a flyweight bout of the UFC on ESPN+ 3 main card in Prague, Czech Republic. And the 35-year-old American says she’s relishing the opportunity to take the latest step in her career in a city she’s always dreamed of visiting.

“So far, I’m loving it,” Carmouche said. “Prague has been on my bucket list for a long time now, so I’m finally getting to make that check.”

Fight night in Prague also will represent a landmark day for Carmouche. It will mark the sixth anniversary of the night at UFC 157 that she made history as the first female fighter to set foot inside the octagon.

The former U.S. Marine is set to make history once again as she competes in the first UFC event held in the Czech Republic.

“It’s another one of those history markers,” she said. “It seems like I’m one of the people who keeps doing that for the UFC.”

As the longest-serving female athlete on the UFC roster, Carmouche has been uniquely placed to witness the explosion of the sport for women, and she credits the UFC’s decision to introduce additional weight classes as the biggest catalyst for that growth.

“I think the biggest thing I’ve seen change is the 135 division,” she said. “If you look at it, originally it was the only division that was available and you saw a lot of women, just to be a part of the best organisation in the world, fight at 135 even though it wasn’t the correct weight class for them.

“From 115ers, 125ers like myself, 145ers, (we) all moved into that division. And now, because the UFC has opened it all up, that’s an evolution in itself. Seeing multiple weight classes with women in the correct weight, you see the performances being that much better because now women are in the correct weight classes where they belong. There’s more depth in each division because now they have the women where they belong and you’re seeing great showcases based on that talent.”

One of the beneficiaries of that expansion is Carmouche herself, who was able to move back down to her natural flyweight division and has seen the benefits.

Carmouche’s last outing saw her claim a unanimous decision victory over Jennifer Maia at UFC Fight Night 133 last July. It was a performance that proved she had made the right decision to make the drop back down to 125 pounds.

“(It was) a huge performance (improvement),” Carmouche said. “My body feels that much healthier. I feel faster. I mean, even in my last fight, I had a fever, I was super sick, and I still was able to put down my opponent and beat her, and at a higher elevation, at that. So that just goes to show 125 really is the weight class for me.”

Now sitting sixth in the UFC’s women’s flyweight rankings, and six years removed from her UFC debut when she fought Ronda Rousey for the women’s bantamweight title, Carmouche believes a big performance against Pudilova on Saturday night could propel her to within striking distance of another shot at championship gold.

“I think a great performance on Saturday should put me right back in contention for the gold,” she said. “I’m comfortable when it comes to just standing in the pocket and striking. I’m comfortable going to the ground. There’s no place I’m not comfortable in this fight, and I’ve seen it going every way possible as I’ve envisioned it.”

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