Ilima-Lei Macfarlane injury update

On Saturday night former champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane went into the Bellator cage against her friend and former training partner Liz Carmouche. She had hoped to gain back her title but after a weight miss on Friday morning, even a win would deem her ineligible.

Unfortunately sometime in the first round of her five round fight she injured her knee and basically suffered through the next rounds officially being finished in the fifth and final round.

But what exactly happened to her knee? Will she retire following the latest setback? What's next for Macfarlane?

What happened to Ilima-Lei Macfarlane's knee?

Unfortunately, we don't have an exact update on her knee yet. The best we have is a brief post-fight update from Macfarlane on her Instagram.

"I knew the leg kicks were coming, it was just a matter of when. Thank you for being merciful, I wouldn’t want my knee blown out by anyone else," she wrote. She also posted a photo of her leg in a compression machine.

We'll update when we have more information.

Is Ilima-Lei Macfarlane retired?

At press time Macfarlane did not announce a retirement. Her record is 2-3 since 2020 and she's missed weight twice in two years. It seems that if retirement is not in her future, a change in weight classes might need to be.

"She's like my big sister," Macfarlane told CBS before the fight. "I think what also helps is that I have tasted victory. It's not like everything is on the line in this fight. The world will go on regardless of who wins or loses. We've both reached gold. We've tasted gold. We've reached the top. My biggest hope is we emerge from this fight injury-free and healthy and that we don't actually hurt each other."