Ilima-Lei Macfarlane wants good friend and training partner Liz Carmouche to sign with Bellator, and she’s more than open to meeting her in a championship bout.
Not only would Macfarlane (10-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) be down to put her Bellator flyweight title on the line against Carmouche (13-7 MMA), but she wouldn’t be mad if she ended up dropping it and suffering the first loss of her career in that fight.
“I want her to come to Bellator,” Macfarlane told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “I want to lose the belt to her. I’m not overlooking (my next fight against) Kate Jackson at all or any of these other girls, but my dream would be to lose the belt to Liz.”
Carmouche, the former two time UFC title challenger, had her nearly seven-year tenure with the organization come to an unceremonious end this past week. Carmouche was informed of her UFC release while doing promotional activities at UFC on ESPN 7 in Washington, and spoke to MMA Junkie first following the news.
Naturally, Carmouche had somewhat of a bad taste in her mouth over the experience. She didn’t rule out Bellator as a potential landing spot, and Macfarlane said her confidant should come to a place where she’ll be appreciated.
“I thought the nature in which (her UFC release) happened was really (expletive), because I think she deserves better,” Macfarlane said. “But I don’t think that her former employer respected her as a fighter or as a person. It’s good. I think it’s ultimately a good thing because Liz deserves to be with a promotion that treats her good. I think this is a new chapter. She’s incredible, she’s done so much for the sport and I’m just excited to see what this next chapter brings her.”
Macfarlane appears to genuinely hope the future brings of a matchup between the two, and said Carmouche coming Bellator is something they’ve discussed privately “for years.” The champ has a title defense against Jackson set for Bellator 236, which takes place Dec. 21 at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii, but the division is ripe for a new contender to step up afterward.
If that does happen to be Carmouche, then it’s a showdown Macfarlane would be happy to have.
“I’m not planning on fighting forever,” Macfarlane said. “If I’m going to lose the belt I want it to be to somebody who is my mentor and my main training partner and my coach through this entire journey. That’s who I would want to lose to. But don’t get me wrong, we would totally go out there to try to kill each other. It’s not like I’m just going to hand it over. People always ask me my dream fight, I’m like, ‘Liz.’ Hopefully she can come over.”
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane hopes Bellator signs Liz Carmouche: 'I want to lose the belt to her'
