HONOLULU — Many of the roughly 1,000 spectators at the Blaisdell Arena on Friday night were military members with a clear choice of fighter to support in the main event of Bellator 278.

Liz Carmouche, of San Diego by way of Okinawa, is not only a veteran of the MMA scene, but an actual veteran; she is a former member of the U.S. Marine Corps.

What You Need To Know

  • MMA veteran Liz Carmouche defeated flyweight champion Juliana Velasquez in the main event of Bellator 278 in front of a crowd of military members and first responders at the Blaisdell Arena on Friday night

  • The outcome was considered controversial in come corners of the MMA world as referee Mike Beltran called a stoppage to the fight late in the fourth round as Carmouche rained down elbows on Velasquez's head for several seconds

  • Bellator 279, taking place Saturday at the Blaisdell, features several local fighters, including the return of Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, and is open to the general public

  • Hawaii fighters Makoa Cooper and Scotty Hao lost their undercard fights Friday

The well-traveled 38-year-old, who along her career path earned title shots in the UFC and in Strikeforce but came up short, earned a long-awaited belt by defeating previously unbeaten Bellator flyweight champ Juliana Velasquez by TKO in the final seconds of the fourth round.

Chants of “USA!” rang out throughout, but especially at that moment. The crowd was entirely military, veterans, first responders and medical personnel.

“That means more to me, honesty,” Carmouche said. “When it’s military, when it’s first responders, the sacrifices that they make in their lives for the safety of other people is unselfish … (fighting in front of them) means more to me than doing it in front of a larger crowd that paid for it.”

Velasquez (12-1), of Brazil, appeared upset by referee Mike Beltran’s decision to call a stoppage. Velasquez, 35, defeated Ilima-Lei Macfarlane in December 2020, the first loss of the Hawaii fighter's career in her fifth title defense.

The southpaw Velasquez, who had knocked down Carmouche (17-7) a few times over the first three rounds, gave up the belt in just her second defense.

Carmouche worked on Velasquez’s legs with repeated kicks as they squared off, but Velasquez weathered the blows, leading Carmouche to attempt more takedowns instead. The first couple resulted in minimal damage to the champ, but on the deciding sequence with time running out in the fourth, Carmouche had her opponent pinned on the canvas against the fence and was raining down elbows on Velasquez’s face for several seconds with minimal effort to escape by the Brazilian.

Some outlets called the stoppage premature and controversial.

“I think he stepped in at the right time,” Carmouche said of Beltran. “I think if he had let it continue, it could’ve been a broken orbital. It could’ve been her going unconscious. … It was the right thing to do to protect the fighter. She wasn’t doing anything to advance her position safely.

“I’d much rather the fighter stand up and us be able to shake hands rather than her go to the hospital.”

Macfarlane, who was present to support longtime friend and sparring partner Carmouche, was beaming at the outcome ringside. Macfarlane makes her return to the cage on the main card Saturday night at Bellator 279, also at the Blaisdell to cap the organization’s third trip to the islands, and first since 2019.

Carmouche expects a large luau after Saturday’s action.

“Whether (Macfarlane) wins or loses, she always throws an amazing party and invites everybody,” she said with a smile.

Macfarlane (11-1) is attempting to work her way to earning another title fight and faces another MMA long-timer in Justine Kish (7-5) to begin her comeback.

Carmouche, who has fought a who’s-who of MMA fighters like Ronda Rousey, now competes in the same Bellator flyweight division as Macfarlane. She expects that the two could be matched up in the not-so-distant future.

“We are close. We know that someday we are going to fight … but it better be the two of us, two people who care about each other, and can hurt each other and smile and laugh about it,” Carmouche said.

Besides Macfarlane, Bellator 279 on Saturday features a host of prominent local fighters on the undercard, and is open to the general public. The action begins at 2:30 p.m.

Local fighters on Saturday’s undercard include Nainoa Dung (vs. Lance Gibson Jr.); Sumiko Inaba (vs. Whittany Pyles); Kai Kamaka III (vs. Justin Gonzales); and Yancy Medeiros (vs. Emmanuel Sanchez).

There were two local fighters on Friday’s undercard.

Makoa Cooper (1-1) of Pearl City appeared to be in control of his welterweight fight, the first of the night, against first-time pro fighter Blake Perry (1-0) of California. He bloodied his opponent’s face significantly over a round and a half, then disaster struck.

Cooper got caught in a hold and after a couple minutes had to submit via anaconda choke four minutes into the second round.

Scotty Hao (5-4) of Kailua-Kona was confident after a round against Dante Schiro (8-3) of Denver, waving his opponent on.

Schiro came within a couple seconds of ending the fight in the second round, but Hao was saved by the bell as blows rained down on his head.

Schiro picked up where he left off in the third and got Hao on his back, continuing the assault until the referee called a stoppage 1:03 into the round.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.