Ilima-Lei Macfarlane

Ilima-Lei Macfarlane was born and raised in the island of ‘Oahu, attending Punahou School from Kindergarten until she graduated in 2009. During her time at Punahou she played basketball, volleyball and wrestling and was the 2009 Wrestling State Champion at 155 lbs. From there she moved to San Diego to pursue a higher education at San Diego State University where she receives her Bachelor’s Degree in Cultural Anthropology and her Master’s Degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences with a focus on indigenous issues. It was during graduate school that she decided to join an MMA gym to get back into shape. She competed as an amateur for one year before turning pro in 2015 and signing with Bellator MMA. After only two years of fighting professionally, she found herself competing for and winning Bellator’s Inaugural Female Flyweight World Championship belt in 2017. Since then she has defended it four times, including two of those times in her hometown of Honolulu, HI as the headliner. Known for her submission game, she trains out of 10th Planet San Diego and is currently a brown belt under Richie “Boogeyman” Martinez. She is also the inaugural EBI Combat Jiujitsu Female Flyweight Word Champion and has an undefeated MMA record of 11-0. When she’s not in the cage you can find her traveling the world and working closely with indigenous communities. She currently has a scholarship for young native girls called “The Ilimanator Scholarship” which helps to eliminate disparities that this demographic faces. She aims to teach these young ladies self-preservation, self-defense and self-love as survival for them is real.