Liz Carmouche batters Ilima-Lei MacFarlane’s leg en route to TKO finish, defends flyweight title at Bellator 300
Bellator MMA returned to us tonight, October 7, 2023, for Bellator 300, going down live from the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.
We had three championship affairs going down tonight at Bellator 300, the main event of which came between lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov (17-0) and no. 4 ranked former lightweight champion Brent Primus (12-3).
Our co-main event of the evening came at 145 lbs showcasing former Strikeforce, Invicta, and UFC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg (26-2), who looked to make the fifth defense of her Bellator featherweight championship tonight. Her opponent was fellow UFC veteran Cat Zingano (14-4), who’d gone a perfect 4-0 inside the Bellator cage since her UFC departure.
Our feature fight of the evening came at 125 lbs division between Bellator flyweight champion Liz Carmouche (2o-7) and former four-time defending Bellator flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (13-3).
Carmouche came into the bout having won her last six-straight contests, while no. 2 ranked Macfarlane came in on a two-fight win streak.
Continue reading to see how this flyweight championship bout went down:
Official Result: Liz Carmouche def. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane via TKO (leg kick) at :17 of round five
Both women open up the bout very gun shy, throwing next to nothing through the first five minutes.
There was slightly more action in round two, Macfarlane landing punches occasionally while Carmouche got her leg kicks going.
Carmouche lands a leg kick that badly injures Macfarlane’s leg in the third, and continues battering her leg with kicks as the round went on.
Carmouche continues attacking the lead leg of Macfarlane, dropping her with leg kicks on multiple occasions. Macfarlane keeps throwing, but is clearly compromised.
Carmouche lands the final leg kick of the fight early on in the fifth and final round, stopping the fight in its tracks.
Click here to view the finish.
Liz Carmouche has had a real career resurgence as of late. Following defeat to Valentina Shevchenko in their UFC title fight, who she’d beaten previously mind you, she fell to 13-7 as a professional, going 4-4 over her last eight at that time. Since then, Carmouche has gone 7-0 with six finishes including a a 4-0 run in Bellator flyweight championship fights, this being her third title defense.
At 39 years of age, turning 40 in February of 2024, what’s she’s done since 2020 is incredibly impressive.
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