Ilima-Lei Macfarlane will attempt to defend her women’s flyweight crown for a third time when she faces Veta Arteaga at a Bellator event on April 27.
The promotion announced the matchup during the Bellator 214 broadcast on Saturday night. The card will take place at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., and will feature a welterweight tournament bout between reigning champ Rory MacDonald and Jon Fitch. The previously reported MacDonald-Fitch bout was also confirmed on Saturday night.
Macfarlane captured the promotion’s inaugural women’s flyweight crown with a fifth-round submission of Emily Ducote at Bellator 186. The Hawaiian then tapped Alejandra Lara with a third-round armbar at Bellator 201 in her initial title defense before submitting former UFC strawweight title defender Valerie Letourneau on home soil at Bellator 213. “The Ilimanator” is unbeaten in nine professional appearances overall.
Arteaga, 31, has been victorious in three of her last four Bellator appearances. Most recently, the Boise, Idaho, native submitted Denise Kielholtz with a guillotine choke in the second round of their Bellator 205 encounter on Sept. 21.