Bellator 294 women’s flyweight competitor DeAnna Bennett has played hockey her entire life.
“This is my first love in terms of sports, just because I loved fast-paced sports, and it’s a physical sport too,” Bennett told Cageside Press in a recent exclusive interview.
Bennett was the kid who “wanted to be outside, play in the dirt, play rough, and wrestle before I even wrestled.” So it’s probably no surprise that she became a professional fighter.
“I just love experiencing life to the fullest,” said Bennett, who will challenge Liz Carmouche in the main event of Bellator 294, a rematch three years in the making.
Bennett wasn’t always a professional fighter, of course. In her words, she “never expected” it, and kind of got into it through “a cascade of peer pressure,” with her friends and gym instructors realizing she was good at it. But there are clear commonalities between the jobs I’ve been drawn to over the years.
“It’s such a fun ride that brought me here, honestly. I can’t believe it some days. I used to work in a hospital in the emergency room, I used to work on an ambulance, it was like my passion to work, and that’s what I wanted to do,” Bennett recalls. “I was thinking about going to Fire Academy, these different options.”
Instead, she embarked on a professional fighting career just over a decade ago that took her to it The ultimate fighter A title shot at Invicta FC, and now, of course, Bellator. “Now I wake up every day and live a life that I love and do what I want to do, and by that I mean fight. It’s something I’m passionate about, it’s my ‘why’ for doing the things I do and why I live my life the way I do, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Bennett and Carmouche first met in September 2020; The fight marked the promotional debut for both. It was Carmouche, a former two-time UFC title contender, after his win. The night did not go according to plan Bennett had planned for many reasons, including a severe injury sustained late in the game.
While it was incorrectly reported that Bennett was injured in the second round, it was in fact during the third round that she tore her hamstring muscle, 95% free of bone. That left her something like a sitting duck in combat, and she was introduced soon after. The injury led to surgery, leaving a scar on her bottom, which Bennett calls “my daily reminder to fight”.
She added, “I thought about this fight with her basically every day I was bedridden for the first six weeks.”
That gave Bennett plenty of time to think about where you want to go, and how you want to get better. In turn, that led to three straight wins in the women’s flyweight division for Bellator, with a win over former title challenger Alejandra Lara, and back-to-back decision wins over UFC vet Justine Kish.
The whole time, Bennett was focused on getting the fight back with Carmouche. She even attended the last match of the champion, a rematch between Carmouche and Juliana Velazquez. At the time, Bennett had no idea a title shot would be imminent.
“You summoned everyone except me into that battle. I was like, ‘Here I am! I’m here! “It must be me,” Bennett recalled.
“Honestly no, I didn’t know I was going to get the fight then. I obviously wanted to, and I’ve been calling for it. I’ve been asking for that fight for a while, ever since I got the belt. Even if it wasn’t for the belt, it’s a fight I want back.” , Just because of the circumstances of what eventually happened with this belt.”
However, Bennett knew that if the pair fought, it was likely for the gold. “I knew, I knew with all my heart that it was going to be for the title, because I knew she was going to win the title.”
In the lead-up to Carmouche vs. Bennett 2, the champion told Cageside Press that she doesn’t feel Bennett has grown as a fighter, though she’s ready for anything. Interestingly enough, Bennett feels the same way in reverse.
“Look, that’s funny, because she stole my words directly from me. Because I feel like she didn’t. I feel like the same fighter she was years ago, too,” Bennett said. “Obviously I’m not going to expect that when I get there, and it’s good that You know she didn’t expect that either. But I have. A few years have passed. Anyone, if you’re not growing in that period of time, what are you even doing? Do you even practice? What’s going on with this? And so I feel like a different fighter, I’m in a completely different camp now. I’ve been working really hard in the gym since our last fight.”
Meanwhile, the feeling leading up to the fight is very positive for Diana Bennett.
“I just try to take every good opportunity, every moment. This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole career. I’ve wanted this Bellator belt for so long, and I’m on my way to it,” Bennett told us. “Just trying to suck it all in. It’s a huge fight, you take it like you do every fight, and I always train hard for all my fights, but there’s very little ‘umph’ in this fight. It makes me more excited, my training was so much more than that.” I am happy.”
Watch our full interview with Bellator 294 headliner DeAnna Bennett above. The event takes place on Friday, April 21, 2023 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii.