Liz Carmouche has no issue fighting teammate and Bellator champ Ilima-lei Macfarlane

HONOLULU – Liz Carmouche has no issue going to battle with a friend and teammate.

The former two-time UFC title challenger is now part of Bellator’s flyweight roster, a division that’s currently being ruled by champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane. Both Carmouche (13-7 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and Macfarlane have trained alongside each other for quite some time and have grown to be close friends.

“The great thing about Ilima and I is that I mentored her from the beginning,” Carmouche said backstage at Bellator 236. “I was the first person when she walked through the doors, I was the first person that she saw. (I’m) that training partner she calls when everyone doesn’t show up because it’s the holiday or they’re injured. No matter what, she can call me, and I’ll come through, and I’m there to help her.”

Carmouche, who left the UFC as a top contender at 125 pounds, has her sights set on the belt just like she did in the UFC, and she’ll have no issues fighting Macfarlane for gold if she was to get the title shot.

“We’ve been on same competitions together, on the same tournaments, and we’re looking at (each other) like, ‘I know the coaches said we’re not supposed to do this, and we’re supposed to tap out, but we’re going to do this as hardest we possibly can. We’re going to be mean to each other.’ And we always said if we fight each other it’s going to be the bloodiest, goriest fight, and we’re going to throw down until one of us dies. And that’s because in the end, that’s the person I care about. We support each other, we call each other sister wife, so I would much rather fight somebody for the belt that I care about than somebody I don’t really know.”

Carmouche said that both she and Macfarlane have envisioned a future where both are at the top of the game. And being in the same weight class, the idea of one day fighting each other has definitely crossed their minds.

Carmouche doesn’t think a potential fight with Macfarlane could be problematic for their friendship, as they already fight each other – just off camera.

“We’ve always had that sneaking suspicion that this moment could happen,” Carmouche explained. “We always knew in our hearts that eventually we’re going to be fighting each other for the belt. We already knew that, and we’ve been in talks about that for a long time.

“I think to other people it comes as a surprise instead of a reality, but it’s just a matter of when it was going to come to fruition. And we’ve already competed side-by-side in tournaments, so we’ve always had that same mentality. We’re going to throw down. It’s you and me, (and) we are going to go harder than anybody else and try to snap each other’s limbs off, choke each other out. And if it’s fighting, we’re going to hit each other harder. There have been days when we go to train with each other and were like, ‘I’m sorry I have to do this to you, but you have to be ready for your fight.’ We don’t want to, but you hit them as hard as you can, so fighting wouldn’t be any different.”