Bellator 300: Friends Liz Carmouche and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane 'ready to punch each other in the face'

Ilima-Lei Macfarlane says she and Liz Carmouche are "ready to punch each other in the face" when the best friends and title rivals meet for the women's flyweight belt at Bellator 300 in San Diego, California on Saturday.

Champion Carmouche, 39, signed fellow American Macfarlane, 33, up to her first MMA gym around 2014.

The pair developed a close bond, and although they have not trained together in just over two years, remain good friends.

"I would consider her a former [team-mate]. There's no love lost between us," said Macfarlane.

"We're ready to punch each other in the face. We've been talking mad [stuff] to each other all fight camp, and then afterwards - well we didn't decide this - but the winner takes the other one to dinner."

The bout was set up during a double Bellator event in Macfarlane's native Hawaii in April, where she defeated Kana Watanabe the night after Carmouche defended her title against DeAnna Bennett.

Following Macfarlane's victory she called out a smiling Carmouche, who was sat at cage-side.

Macfarlane credits Carmouche with kickstarting her MMA career, which saw her become the inaugural Bellator women's flyweight champion in 2017 before successfully defending it four times.

"I think [our] trash talk was mainly sending food videos to each other to try and sabotage the weight cut," joked Macfarlane.

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"In all seriousness, Liz was someone who got me started in this sport. I have so much love and respect for her. But like she said, we're going to punch each other in the face and hurt each other, and we'll actually get paid for it this time."

Carmouche will be making the third defence of the belt she won off Juliana Velasquez last year.

She says the pair's hunger to compete will override any sentiment she shares with Macfarlane, making for a "great show" at the Pechanga Arena.

"The hardest training sessions we had and the most damage we did in the gym was to each other," said Carmouche.

"So I can say with great confidence we can go out there and put on a great show for everybody.

"Because nobody has hurt me more and I haven't hurt anybody more than Ilima herself."

'I'll make Primus feel slow and old - Nurmagomedov'

The event is headlined by a lightweight title bout between champion Usman Nurmagomedov and Brent Primus.

The fight also marks the first semi-final of the Bellator Lightweight Grand Prix.

Russia's Nurmagomedov, 25, is making the second defence of the belt he won off Patricky 'Pitbull' Freire last November, but in 38-year-old American Primus he faces a former champion.

Primus won the lightweight title by stopping Michael Chandler in 2017, before dropping the title back in rematch the following year.

Despite Primus' credentials, Nurmagomedov has dismissed any chance of his title reign ending.

"When he says he will beat me, I don't understand [it]. [Does] he really believe in this? If he believes this, this is good because we can show you guys a good fight," said Nurmagomedov.

"For a tango, we need two guys. I respect this guy - he is a former champion. On Saturday night I will make him feel slow and old."

A third title fight on the card takes place between women's featherweight champion Cris Cyborg and Cat Zingano.

Brazil's Cyborg, 38, is making her long-awaited return, having not fought since April 2022, and is looking to defend the belt for a fifth time.

American Zingano, 41, however, is a former UFC bantamweight challenger and has won four straight fights since signing with Bellator in 2020.

A fourth title bout was originally slated to take place at the event, but a heavyweight contest between Britain's Linton Vassell and champion Ryan Bader was cancelled after Vassell was forced to pull out.

'Bellator has built a roster unlike anybody else'

Bellator president Scott Coker says the three title fights at Bellator 300 shows the depth of talent on the promotion's roster.

He added that not since former Japanese promotion Pride, which went defunct in 2007, has an MMA promotion drawn such strong comparisons with the UFC.

"We've built a roster unlike anybody else in MMA," said Coker.

"What I mean by that, is not since Pride have you heard the notion of 'hey, are these fighters better than the UFC fighters'? said Coker.

"Is [Vadim] Nemkov better than [the UFC's best light-heavyweight]? Is Johnny Eblen better than [UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland]?

"Those are the types of conversations that are happening and I'm super proud of everybody here."

Coker also said there is "dialogue ongoing" over the potential sale of Bellator.

Coker has revealed in previous months that Bellator is up for sale, with its parent company Viacom searching for a new business partner.