Ilima-Lei Macfarlane Relieved To Lose Bellator Title: ‘It’s Hard Being A Champion’

Former Bellator women’s flyweight titleholder Ilima-Lei Macfarlane says she is relieved to no longer be champion after suffering a unanimous decision defeat to Juliana Velasquez at Bellator 254 last night. Speaking at the post-fight press conference Macfarlane was fairly upbeat despite suffering the first loss of her professional career, she said.

“Man, this is like a first a lot of things. I don’t think I’ve ever bled like this before or broken my nose or (been) cut open. So yeah, this is cool.”

“Honestly, this is, in a really weird way – this is kind of what I always felt like I needed in my career,” Macfarlane added. “You can’t just always keep winning and excelling. You have to hit some type of plateau or something. I’m actually really happy that this happened. I’m relieved that this is what it feels like to lose.”

MacFarlane was tearful but insisted she was happy to have experienced defeat.

“These are tears of relief,” Macfarlane said. “It’s hard being a champion. It is hard doing it for so long, so I’m really grateful for this experience and this moment. … Sometimes, I think as a champion you don’t get that luxury of choosing your fights or, I don’t know, taking really crazy fights. I’ve always wanted to be that fighter that takes a fight on two weeks’ notice, you know? I guess you almost really do have more freedom when you’re not at the top.

“I’m excited for this next chapter. I was joking with my corner (like), ‘Yay, this means I don’t have to train for five rounds anymore in camp. I can have a three-round camp. ‘Then I was like, ‘Oh, well, there might be a rematch or maybe we’ll get a tournament,’ so I guess I’ll still have to train for five rounds. Yeah, it just seems like there’s a little bit more flexibility when you’re not the champ.’” (Transcribed by MMA Junkie)

Does Ilima-Lei Macfarlane being so upbeat in defeat surprise you?