PFL cleared all 13 bouts on its Chicago card Thursday, headlined by Liz Carmouche’s rematch with Jena Bishop for the promotion’s first women’s flyweight world title. Carmouche needed a last-minute haircut to make weight, while unbeaten French prospect Oualy Tandia watched his opponent miss the mark in a separate bout on the same card.
Carmouche Shaves Her Head to Make 125 Pounds
Cameras at Thursday’s weigh-in inside Wintrust Arena caught the 42-year-old former UFC and Bellator fighter having her remaining hair cut off moments before stepping on the scale. Carmouche hit exactly 125 pounds (56.70 kilograms). Jena Bishop came in at 124.6 pounds (56.52 kilograms), comfortably inside the limit. Both fighters’ numbers were confirmed official by PFL, clearing the way for Friday’s main event at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, where all 13 scheduled bouts are now locked in after Thursday’s weigh-in. The footage, posted jointly by PFL and Carmouche’s own account, shows her leaning over for the trim before stepping onto the scale and smiling as the number came up, a lighter and faster fix than the sauna sessions and water cuts fighters more commonly rely on in the final hours before weigh-in.
A Rematch for PFL’s First Flyweight Belt
Carmouche and Bishop first met in the 2025 PFL flyweight tournament final, which Carmouche won by stoppage in the third round. This time it’s the division’s first-ever PFL world title on the line, a step up from the tournament trophy. Bishop, a Missouri native and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with an IBJJF No-Gi world title and ADCC experience, has not lost since that fight, running off back-to-back first-round finishes, including an armbar win over Ariane Lipski da Silva. Carmouche, who trains out of The Arena in San Diego, carries a 26-8 record and has not lost since a 2024 defeat to Taila Santos; she enters off a second-round guillotine finish of Viviane Araujo. The two women are ranked second and fourth at 125 pounds, and Friday’s winner becomes the division’s first undisputed champion.
Unbeaten Frenchman Tandia Gets Tested Before the First Bell
On the main card, undefeated French prospect Oualy Tandia makes his PFL debut against J.P. Saint Louis, a submission specialist with more than a decade of experience, including several Resurrection Fighting Alliance appearances. Tandia made the 170-pound (77.11-kilogram) limit, but Saint Louis missed it by 2.8 pounds, weighing in at 172.8 pounds (78.38 kilograms). The bout will proceed at an agreed catchweight of 173 pounds (78.47 kilograms). Tandia arrives 5-0 as a professional out of Hexagone MMA in France, where he finished Romain Debienne in the third round to win the promotion’s title before signing with PFL.
Tandia’s size at welterweight drew attention earlier this year when a clip of him meeting UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev went viral. Makhachev reportedly could not believe Tandia competed at 170 pounds and asked how much weight he cut to get there. That frame is part of why PFL opted to debut the Frenchman on a stacked international card rather than a regional show, even with Saint Louis unable to get all the way down to the original limit.
Full Fight Card and How to Watch
The co-main event pairs featherweights Timur Khizriev and Gabriel Braga. Elsewhere on the card, bantamweights Sarvarjon Khamidov and Rafael do Nascimento meet, while the preliminary card features welterweight Eliezer Kubanza against Trey Waters and light heavyweight Emiliano Sordi against Abraham Bably. Thirteen bouts remain on the card after a women’s strawweight fight between Benita van Rooij and Giuliany Perea was scratched, with Perea failing to clear medical clearance. Preliminary bouts stream on the ESPN app starting at 6:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. PT), with the main card airing on ESPN2 at 11 p.m. ET (8 p.m. PT).
What a Win in Chicago Would Mean
Nothing about Saint Louis missing weight changes who carries the risk Friday: the matchup stands, and it is Tandia, not his opponent, who still has everything to prove on American soil. A win over an experienced grappler like Saint Louis would hand PFL its first real selling point for a prospect who, until now, had fought exclusively in front of a French audience with Hexagone MMA. A loss would not be a disaster at this stage either, since the promotion chose to test him immediately on a stacked card rather than ease him in on a regional show. For PFL, the weigh-in also doubled as a reminder of how international its roster has become: a French welterweight prospect and a 42-year-old former UFC and Bellator champion sharing equal billing on a card built around Chicago’s Wintrust Arena, broadcast to American viewers on ESPN2 and the ESPN app.
