About Ilima-Lei Macfarlane

Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (born April 2, 1990) is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the flyweight division of Bellator MMA. She is the inaugural and current Bellator Women's Flyweight World Champion.

Background
In her youth, Macfarlane played basketball, but her aspirations in the sport came to a stop due to series of knee injuries. Macfarlane graduated Punahou School in 2009 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Although she got a scholarship for wrestling to Menlo College, she decided to study Anthropology at San Diego State University from where she earned Bachelor Degree in 2013. After earning her Bachelor Degree in 2013, she continued her education at SDSU to study Master of Arts in Liberal Studies.

During the summer before grad program, she decided to lose some weight she gained in the college and joined a CrossFit gym and Liz Carmouche's MMA gym. She grew affinity for mixed martial arts and continued training at the San Diego Combat Academy.