Video by Brian McInnis / bmcinnis@staradvertiser.com
Hawaii's Ilima-Lei Macfarlane defended her world flyweight title via unanimous decision over Britain's Kate Jackson at Bellator 236 at the Blaisdell Arena on Saturday.
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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane entered the ring to fight Kate Jackson during Bellator 236 on Saturday.
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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Ilima-Lei Macfarlane worked against Kate Jackson during Bellator 236 on Saturday.
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That was how Ilima-Lei Macfarlane defeated Kate Jackson in the main event of Bellator 236 on Saturday night at the Blaisdell Arena — staying one step ahead of her opponent to earn a unanimous decision (50-45, 50-44, 50-44) and retain her world flyweight championship.
Macfarlane, 29, was at ease throughout the week, and that demeanor extended into another memorable walk-out to the cage, and performance in it. It was her second successful title defense in her home state in as many Decembers.
“I feel like a professional fighter. I feel like a champion,” said Macfarlane, who was taken the distance for the first time as a titleholder. “And I just feel so comfortable inside there now.”
Macfarlane (11-0, 10-0 Bellator) stayed disciplined as shouts of “I-li-ma!” rained down from the rafters in the Blaisdell, which was at about 75 percent of capacity. But she never over-extended herself going for a submission against the stubborn Jackson (11-4-1, 3-2) as local MMA legends B.J. Penn and Egan Inoue looked on.
The 33-year-old Brit appeared close to defeat in four of five five-minute rounds, only to be saved by the bell. The Star-Advertiser scored the bout 50-45.
“She’s really good at defending. I’ve seen her film before, I’ve seen her defending arm-bars,” Macfarlane said. “And she was reading it, too. She did a really good job, because I was actually baiting her to come up into my triangle, and she knew. She was keeping her head flat on the ground. She knows what submissions (I’m going for).
“We’re playing chess, basically.”
Jackson spent much of Round 1 in a headlock and left it with a bloodied nose that would flow for much of the next 20 minutes of action.
Jackson pressed the advantage in Round 2, grappling with Macfarlane against the cage. Macfarlane reversed momentum, taking down Jackson and coming very close to completing an arm-bar submission, but the Brit was saved by the bell as chants rocked the building.
The fighters traded strikes in Round 3 until Macfarlane brought Jackson to the ground again, working her into a knot.
That’s when Macfarlane felt her spirit break, just a bit.
“I’m like, ‘All right, I’m just going to dominate the rest of the fight,’ ” she said.
Round 4 saw Macfarlane take down Jackson again, working for an arm-bar that the stubborn Jackson would not yield.
And in the final round, Macfarlane pummeled a prone Jackson over and over, but the fight ended before a stoppage was called.
“That’s kind of cool, but obviously, it’s still the first loser, really,” Jackson said of being the first to go the distance with Macfarlane since she was named champ. “So, yeah, it’s disappointing, but that’s how it goes sometimes.
“I’m proud that I didn’t give up at any point. I don’t tend to. But it was a hard fight.”
Britain’s Jackson brought the Union Jack to the cage. Macfarlane’s Hawaiian flag sported the Union Jack, plus eight stripes.
Macfarlane appeared alongside several other women who then danced together as imagery of the Mauna Kea protests played on Bellator’s big screen.
“There’s a situation up on Mauna Kea that I’m pretty heavily involved in,” she said. “I’ve flown back up to the Big Island several times since the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope has started. I’m right up there with the Kia‘i, the protectors. So this walkout was dedicated to all the Kia‘i. They’re still up there on the Mauna.”
Macfarlane appears poised to head up Bellator events in Hawaii with regularity.
Bellator CEO Scott Coker joked that his staff is ready to move into a Honolulu office.
“In all seriousness, who doesn’t love Honolulu, who doesn’t like Hawaii? But I think once a year is a good fit,” Coker said.
On the undercard, Maui’s Zach Zane, 30, won by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Makaha’s Nainoa Dung, 20, in a lightweight battle of a veteran and a touted up-and-comer.
Zane negated Dung’s kickboxing prowess by taking the fight to the ground at every opportunity, frustrating the younger fighter.
“The kid’s been kickboxing since he was, I don’t know, 2,” said Zane (14-9), who made his Bellator debut. “So how are you not going to respect the kid? If If you don’t respect him, you’re arrogant, you’re cocky. And I’m not like that. I know what he’s got. I’ve seen his tapes. I’ve seen him fight in person. I knew he had a hard kick. He caught me in the head, he caught me in the body. But I trained for this.”
In the Bellator featherweight world grand prix match preceding the Macfarlane fight, Derek Campos was saved by the bell from AJ McKee’s rear-naked choke in Round 1. But McKee was relentless and got the job done in Round 3, submitting Campos via arm-bar.
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BELLATOR 236
>> Keoni Diggs (8-0) def. Scotty Hao (4-3) by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:23 of R2
>> Kai Kamaka III (6-2) def. Spencer Higa (7-11), by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
>> Dustin Barca (4-0) def. Brandon Pieper (11-14), by submission (rear-naked choke) at 0:58 of R1
>> Ben Wilhelm (4-0) def. Keali‘i Kanekoa (2-3), by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:24 of R1
>> Swayne Makana Lunasco (1-0) def. Kaylan Gorospe (0-1), by TKO (strikes) at 3:29 of R3
