How Ilima-Lei Macfarlane keeps her head in check as Hawaii hometown date approaches

Esther Lin photoSAN DIEGO — Ilima-Lei Macfarlane and her coach, Manolo Hernandez, usually see eye-to-eye, like you’ll find in any good trainer-fighter relationship. But they do have a bit of a disagreement on one subject: How fast they knew Macfarlane was going to make it big in the mixed martial arts game.

“It took like three years to even admit to myself I might become good at this,” Macfarlane told MMA Fighting. “That light bulb just went off. Even when I started competing, it was still as a hobby, it wasn’t serious. Even when I went pro with Bellator, I still just, yeah, it’s a temporary whatever. It wasn’t until, I think, the first Emily Ducote fight, I thought maybe I can make this my…