Unbeaten Macfarlane defends Bellator belt
TEMECULA, Calif. – Bellator women’s flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane had a very humble beginning to her mixed martial arts career. But now that she’s a world champion, she’s quickly learning to handle the spotlight.
“I was the first women’s flyweight champion crowned, so I am for sure the best flyweight in the world,” Macfarlane told USA TODAY.
As the rival organization to the industry-leading Ultimate Fighting Championship, Bellator and its fighters are often tasked with comparing themselves with their counterparts in the competing promotion. But Bellator was the first of the two organizations to start promoting fights in the women’s 125pound division, putting that weight class in a unique position.
Bellator President Scott Coker, who has promoted martial arts events for more than 30 years, has long been a proponent of the women’s divisions. “I grew up in a traditional martial arts school where we trained, sparred and competed alongside women,” Coker said. “We were all teammates. When I ran Strikeforce, we gave these deserving athletes the opportunity to compete, from Ronda Rousey to Gina Carano to Miesha Tate, Amanda Nunes, Cris Cyborg and more.”
Bellator signed Macfarlane in 2015, and she was crowned the promotion’s inaugural champion this past November with a submission win over Emily Ducote. The win was the unbeaten Macfarlane’s sixth for the promotion.
Meanwhile, the UFC didn’t officially introduce their women’s flyweight division until this past December. Macfarlane believes her success absolutely played a role in UFC officials electing to add the division to their ranks.
“I feel that everybody in the UFC should be thanking me right now, or at least all the flyweights should be thanking me, because the only reason the UFC created their flyweight division was because of me,” Macfarlane said.
Friday, Macfarlane (7-0 MMA, 6-0 BMMA) looks to defend her belt for the first time, when she takes on Colombian challenger Alejandra Lara (7-1 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) in the main event of Bellator 201 at Pechanga Resort Casino (Paramount, 9 p.m. ET).
Streaming deal
Bellator officials this week announced a “nine-figure, multiyear distribution deal” with DAZN — a sports streaming service that already operates in Austria, Canada, Germany, Japan and Switzerland — ahead of a latesummer U.S. launch.
Seven Bellator events a year will stream exclusively on DAZN, while another 15 will be simulcast on the promotion’s current TV partner, Paramount. The deal comes on the heels of DAZN’s recent agreement with Matchroom Boxing, reportedly worth $1 billion, bolstering a combat sports lineup that CEO James Rushton believes is a “must-have” for fight fans. “We’re proud to be disruptive,” Rushton said. “We’re going to change the game, and we’re going to change the landscape of mixed martial arts here in the U.S.”