Lord of the Rings-inspired Kate Jackson on verge of MMA history in Bellator title showdown vs Ilima-Lei Macfarlane

Lord of the Rings-inspired Kate Jackson on verge of MMA history in Bellator title showdown vs Ilima-Lei Macfarlane

Kate Jackson would not strike you as a fighter when you meet her. Soft spoken and a native of Cornwall, the 33-year-old has flown under the radar for many MMA fans, despite a 11-3-1 pro record.

But Jackson has lived a long MMA life and on Saturday night in Hawaii she aims to make history against Bellator’s flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane.

Jackson has travelled to Poland to fight UFC star Joanna Jedrzejczyk, fought legend Valerie Letourneau and has persistently surprised people, especially her opponents.

In Honolulu, she can become the first ever female British world champion in MMA. Only Michael Bisping and Bellator’s Liam McGeary have achieved the same feat.


Jackson can join an elite British club by claiming the title (Picture: Bellator)

Jackson’s foray into MMA began in judo and karate, but before that, it was her love of reading that inspired a life in fighting.



‘As a teenager, I was absolutely obsessed with Lord of the Rings and that got me going with that genre. It was probably the fantasy books I was reading that inspired me to get into karate.

‘There was always a lot of fighting in those books. I suppose that got me vaguely interested. And then it was a pact with a friend of mine.

‘She was to come to karate with me and I was to go to scuba diving with her. The karate happened, but the scuba diving never did.’

‘It’s kind of embarrassing to admit,’ she added. ‘But as a teenager, Aragorn was quite an inspiration.’

Consecutive wins over Lena Ovchynnikova and Anastasia Yankova were enough to convince Bellator that Jackson deserved the next crack at the title. Macfarlane has held the flyweight belt since its creation in 2017.

Macfarlane is one of Bellator’s biggest stars (Picture: Bellator)

She is Bellator’s poster girl and Jackson has been tasked with stripping Macfarlane of her title in her own backyard.

But after a fighting Jedrzejczyk in her hometown six years ago, Jackson isn’t intimidated by the prospect of facing Macfarlane in Hawaii.

‘I was very emotional when my manager told me [about the title shot],’ Jackson said.

‘Hawaii not going to be anywhere near as bad as Poland!

‘In hindsight, that whole fight was not an amazing idea. It is my opponent’s home location, but it’s not her home organisation.

‘She is the champion, but I trust Bellator. They’ve always treated me well and it won’t be like Poland, where my opponent’s team was running the whole show.’

Macfarlane’s style is centered around her excellent ground game. Of her eight stoppage victories, six of them have come via submission.

The last time she fought in Honolulu, she beat Letourneau with a triangle choke in the third round. It was raucous return to her hometown and the crowd will be expecting another win.

Jackson isn’t worried by the partisan atmosphere and certainly isn’t fearful of the champion submitting her.

‘She has a good submission game,’ Jackson admitted.

Jackson doesn’t fear Macfarlane’s submission game (Picture: Bellator)

‘She’s good on the ground and I believe she’s a tenth planet brown belt. But that’s my strength.



‘I’m a brown belt as well. I’m not saying she’s not capable of submitting me because at this level you’re always one mistake away from that happening.

‘But, her ground game doesn’t scare me. I’m aware of, but I’m not afraid to be on the ground with her.’

‘The timing for this fight is good, I think, for me,’ she added. ‘Fighting for a title is one thing, but next step is to actually achieve it.’

Bellator Hawaii: Macfarlane vs. Jackson takes place on Saturday December 21 from the historic Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii and will be live on Sky Sports. Tickets to the event are on sale now and can be purchased via Ticketmaster. For more information visit Bellator.com