PRAGUE – Six years since becoming the first female athlete to set foot inside the octagon at UFC 157, Liz Carmouche scored a huge win over local hero Lucie Pudilova and declared her desire to go for UFC gold once again.

Carmouche put on an all-action display that saw her engage in a highly competitive back-and-forth battle with the Czech star over three rounds at UFC on ESPN+ 3.

And although the local fans made their feelings known after Carmouche was adjudged the unanimous-decision winner, the American was comfortable that her performance warranted the result.

“I controlled the cage. She wasn’t dictating anything in the standing. I know I controlled the takedowns. She didn’t do any takedowns on me. I controlled, and I was the only one who threw up any submission attempts,” Carmouche said backstage at O2 arena. “So based on those three factors, I can see how the decision went my way.”

Carmouche believed her display deserved the victory, but she wasn’t necessarily confident of the verdict, as she explained her nerves waiting for the decision to be rendered.

“I was really trying at every opportunity to try and finish her and submit her and make sure I did finish this fight,” Carmouche said. “The last thing I wanted to do was go to decision, especially in someone else’s country. Even in my own country I don’t fare well, so certainly didn’t expect it to go in my favor in somebody else’s.”

The atmosphere during the bout was the most electric of the night as the Prague crowd raised the decibel level to ear-splitting levels in support of their local fighter. And that volume went up even higher when the crowd voiced its displeasure at Carmouche’s decision win. It was so loud, in fact, that the flyweight contender couldn’t even conduct her post-fight interview with Dan Hardy.

“I couldn’t hear a single thing he said,” she said with a laugh. “I saw his mouth moving, but I just couldn’t hear him over the crowd.”

But despite the raucous crowd cheering – and jeering – against her, Carmouche said she had nothing but respect for the Czech fans and paid tribute to their vociferous support throughout and after the bout.

“The support that she received from her country was what I anticipated,” Carmouche said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for the fact that they did support their fighter. You know, some places you can go and you can fight outside your country, and they won’t receive that same support, so I’ve got nothing but enthusiasm that they did support her. And it was exactly what I anticipated. What I didn’t anticipate was how tough she was.”

That toughness from Pudilova made the contest one of the most exciting of the night, as the two flyweight contenders left it all in the octagon. And despite the grueling nature of the contest, Carmouche said there was no thought in her mind about taking time off. Instead, she wants to get straight back into the cage and has her sights set on the flyweight title.

“I want to get right back in there,” Carmouche said. “The thing that I hate most is taking breaks. I beg the UFC for fights all the time. All I have is a little gash. It took two stitches on my head, that’s it. I want to get back in there as soon as possible.

“I want to fight for that belt, hat’s what I’ve been gunning for. I don’t care who’s holding it. If (Valentina Shevchenko) is the one that retains it, then she’s the one I want to fight. If it’s somebody else, then I want that belt.”

Carmouche holds a victory over Shevchenko from earlier in their careers pre-UFC, and she believes she has the game to defeat “Bullet” in a rematch.

“I think it goes down a similar way to the first time,” Carmouche said. “The first time I was tricked, honestly, by the organization I was fighting for. I was supposed to fight her sister, who had just as little experience as I had. Instead I went against someone who had 10 years more experience than myself. And it was just at that point I wasn’t willing to say no for an opportunity to fight, so I took it and somehow managed to come out with a win.

“This’ll be very different. I’ve been training now for 10 years. I have a lot more experience, and I know it will be in my favor, without a doubt.”

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