Ilima-Lei Macfarlane is coming off the ultimate high of fighting, a night back in December that was closer to the final scene in a sports movie than a typical championship title defense. But she is stepping back into reality Saturday night.
Macfarlane was the star of Bellator Hawaii, the first major MMA event in her home state of Hawaii in years. As a local product, she stepped into the Neal Blaisdell Center, the same building where 10 years earlier she won the high school state wrestling championship, and retained her Bellator flyweight title over Valerie Letourneau.