Liz Carmouche and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane will still compete in a five-round women’s flyweight championship fight at Bellator 300 on Sat. night (Oct. 7) at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, Calif., according to promotion officials, but Macfarlane will not be eligible to win the strap should she prove victorious.
That’s because “The Ilimanator” came in heavy on her first weigh ins attempt, tipping the scale at 127.4 pounds. She didn’t fare much better in her second bid, clocking in at 126.6. Macfarlane was then given an hour for a third shot at making weight, but actually went up to 128.2 pounds.
Get complete Bellator 300 weigh ins results here.
Carmouche will retain her title with a victory but if Macfarlane wins, the belt becomes vacant. “The Ilimanator” will also be forced to cough up a percentage of her purse to the champion. This is the second time the Hawaiian-born combatant has missed weight, coming in three pounds heavy for her showdown against Bruna Ellen at Bellator 284 back in Aug. 2022.
What was billed to be a four-championship spectacle turned sour over the last week. Aside from Macfarlane’s scale fail, putting a bit of a damper on the women’s 125-pound title fight, Linton Vassell was forced out of his scheduled heavyweight championship showdown against division kingpin, Ryan Bader.
The promotion opted to continue the main card with three title fights, which will be headlined by a Lightweight Grand Prix championship battle between division champion, Usman Nurmagomedov, defending against Brent Primus. The winner will move on to the final for a chance to win $1 million.
In the co-main event, longtime veteran Cris Cyborg will put her women’s featherweight belt on the line against bitter rival and former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight title contender, Cat Zingano.
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