San Diegan who now lives outside Ramona reaches summit at 38
As the walls of financial reality closed in, Liz Carmouche began selling things. Her surfboard. Her skateboard. Her snowboard. Art pieces.while surviving multiple run-ins with improvised explosive devices. Transitioning to civilian life created anxiety and dread of a different and wholly unsettling kind.
That’s part of the reason, a dozen years later, that winning Bellator MMA’s flyweight world championship April 22 in Honolulu against unbeaten Juliana Velasquez as military personnel watched was satisfying beyond words.What started as a flailing search for enough money to pay for gas and gym fees led to a title at age 38. Four times before, she fought for a belt. Four times before, she lost.“Having the heart to overcome adversity, you have to find that inside yourself,” Carmouche said.
“You have to have a certificate to be a sign-flipper, believe it or not,” she said. “Maybe there’s training so you don’t hit someone with it? I don’t know. But that costs money, which I didn’t have, which was the point of me being there.” Carmouche lacked the money for the sign-up fee and monthly gym charges, but people there vowed she would find a way. She did. And now she’s a world champion.