Life As A Female MMA Fighter: ‘At My Pro Debut, I Knocked Out My Opponent After 10 Seconds’

‘My pro-debut, I knocked out my opponent after 10 seconds,’ says Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, professional mixed martial artist and current women’s flyweight world champion for Bellator, ‘I actually totally felt bad. I walked straight back to my corner and sat down like “oh my gosh, what have I done?”’

The highly controversial fight led to the California State Athletic Commission (CSAS) investigating unsanctioned MMA events by the Xplode Fight Series. But for Ilima-Lei, it was the start of a career that would catapult her towards an undefeated record to this very day. Signed by Bellator – an MMA promotion company - after the fight, it was her first professional recognition in an industry saturated with men. Search MMA right now on Google and the entire news page will be filled with stories about male fights. But Ilima-Lei, alongside Bellator's newest division of female fighters, is about to change that.

Ilima-Lei never meant to become a professional MMA fighter. In fact, she’s nicknamed the ‘accidental champ’ by her trainer. Previously waiting tables at a local restaurant, she spotted a ‘little MMA gym’ on her way to work. ‘I just joined the gym because I wanted to lose weight,’ she tells me, ‘I was overweight in college and I had the Summer off in between my undergraduate and my graduate programmes, so I decided to try and get into shape.’

After showing natural talent when learning the basic techniques, her endeavor to be healthier became a side-passion when she was asked if she would be interested in fighting amateur. ‘One amateur fight turned into nine, and then they said “hey, you might as well go pro” and then one pro fight turned into me getting signed by Bellator,’ she says.

‘Six fights later in Bellator, I became champion and now this is my full-time career,’ she continued, ‘It was a crazy accidental journey that started with me just wanting to lose weight and become healthier.’

Ilima-Lei talks about becoming an MMA champion so flippantly, you almost forget that her ‘accidental journey’ involves being punched, pushed and held in chokeholds every day. But the first time she was hit - during training - was memorable for how strong it made her feel. ‘I remember getting punched hard for the first time by my teammate Liz Carmouche,’ she says, ‘she was the first woman in the UFC - a legend in the sport - and she's totally ripped. Huge arms, super strong and when she punched me I was just like “okay, if I can take a punch from Liz, I can take a punch from anyone”’.

Surprisingly, it’s only in training that Ilima-Lei does tend to get hit. In professional fights, her defense is one of her strongest assets, so much so that throughout her entire professional career she’s only ever had one bloody nose- and she’s never been knocked out.

Unlike boxing, MMA has three avenues to success: submission, knockout and decision. Where a boxing match can only be won by knockout or decision, thus putting a greater focus on fighters getting that big KO, MMA is much more focused on submission holds, for example joint manipulation, chokeholds.

‘[In MMA] if you're not intelligently protecting yourself at all times the referees are going to step in, whereas boxing they'll give you 10 seconds to get off the ground after you've just got knocked out? It's crazy,’ she continues, ‘The brain injury that you can sustain from getting knocked out is much higher than the injuries you sustain from getting submitted or choked unconscious.’

Of course, as safe as Ilima-Lei believes it to be, fighting by profession is still a terrifying thought to the average person. Does she not get scared beforehand? ‘I actually do get really nervous back in the locker room,’ she says, ‘A lot of my walkouts are pretty emotional and my last fight I was crying walking out to the cage.’

‘A lot of people were concerned, because you don't see too often a fighter walking to out to the cage in tears,’ she continued, ‘but I'm also a professional so once I get into the cage, and the bell rings, something switches and I’m like “this is my job, this is what I’ve been training to do, this is the moment”. When that first contact is made, you go to a different level.’

That different level isn’t just the banishment of any nerves, it’s also a level of adrenaline that often leaves her with no memory of the fight. ‘My mind goes blank, training takes over and my body just goes into autopilot,’ she says, ‘after you’ve thrown that first punch it’s like “there’s no escaping this now, I have to do this” and your adrenaline goes into overdrive.’

Some fights though, are impossible to forget. Her most recent fight, the one she cried walking into, was in her hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii, and it was a historical event for the state. ‘For over a decade there has not been a major MMA promotion in Hawaii,’ she tells me, ’Per capita, Hawaii produces the most high-level fighters and fighting has been around for years back in the Islands, but there has been no coverage or big promotions there.’

Walking out in front of her friends and family to the sold-out Neal S. Blaisdell Arena, she was overcome by just how monumental the occasion was. Plus, her opponent, Valérie Létourneau, was a veteran with double the amount of professional fights on her roster, amping up the pressure to defend her unbeaten record. ‘Up until that point I was fighting girls of the same age who had the same experience as I did,’ she said, ‘but Valerie was a next level opponent, she was one of the first women I’ve ever seen fight.’

Defeating Valerie via submission in the third-round, Ilima-Lei felt vindicated, and the pressure to prove herself dissipated. ‘After that fight, I’m a lot more confident in my abilities and my mental game,’ she continued, ‘I don't feel a lot of pressure because she was the best opponent, but I do go into all of my fights thinking I’m going to get knocked out.’

It seems like the opposite approach many men in the field express pre-fight, often boasting about their unwavering ability to win at press conferences, starting personal rivalries with their opponents and creating even more tension around the fight. For Ilima-Lei, however, her lack of ego only ensures she stays on top of her game.

‘I am very realistic about my opponents,’ she says, ‘anything can happen in MMA. You could be dominating them all three rounds and then in the last 5 seconds of the fight they throw a crazy haymaker and you get knocked out.’

The difference in the way in which Ilima-Lei approaches her fights compared to her male counterparts isn’t the only gender disparity though. Historically, only a select few of professional MMA organizations include women in competitions, and it was only in 2012 that MMA’s most famous female face, Ronda Rousey, became the first woman fighter signed to the UFC, the biggest promotion company in the MMA industry.

While Ilima-Lei confirms that her promoter, Bellator, give women an equal opportunity platform, and they are paid the same as men, she says one of the larger challenges within the industry is being credited for their talent, rather than focusing on how attractive they are.

‘In the beginning of my career, people thought I was just getting signed by Bellator because of the way I looked,’ she says, ‘that’s probably one of the biggest obstacles that we face as fighters is just being recognised for our abilities and not out physical traits.’

It’s a fight she’s willing to take on though - alongside all of those professional ones - because MMA, she says, truly changed her life. ‘It's so empowering,’ she says, ‘having the ability to get my health back and be able to protect and defend myself, that just took my whole life to another level,

‘To know as a woman that, I might still get hurt in the process, but I will put up a damn good fight if I were ever to get attacked on the street, it gives you a sense of confidence just in your everyday life,’ she continued, ‘I would encourage any woman thinking about getting involved in combat sports to absolutely do it. Not just for your physical health, but for your emotional, mental and spiritual health, because that’s the basis of martial arts.

Ilima-Lei Macfarlane is the current Bellator Women’s Flyweight World Champion. Watch Ilima-Lei Macfarlane in action against Veta Arteaga in the co main event of Bellator 220: MacDonald vs. Fitch live on SkySports on Saturday, April 27.