HONOLULU – Rather than go through the same ol’/same ol’, [autotag]Ilima-Lei Macfarlane[/autotag] decided to change some things up at her Bellator 236 open workout session Wednesday.
But she had to pivot when Bellator 235 headliner Josh Barnett went through his workout just before her. Barnett pulled off an impromptu pro wrestling match with workout partner Erik Hammer, and it included Hammer being thrown off the stage, both men being thrown into floor coolers filled with ice, and a folding chair.
So Macfarlane decided that instead of doing a yoga flow for her workout, she instead would give fans a taste of Hawaiian culture. The Honolulu native decided a full-length hula dance was the way to go.
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“This is spur of the moment – this is unplanned. I’m going to do a hula for my open workout. Welcome to the islands. Thank you for coming,” Macfarlane said. “This hula is called ‘Papalina Lahilahi,’ and it’s a hula about dainty cheeks. You can interpret that however you want, but I tend to gauge my weight cut and how much weight I need to lose and what I weigh based on my cheeks. As you can see, they’re very prominent right now, so I’m super close to weight.”
Macfarlane (10-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) puts her women’s flyweight title on the line Saturday against Kate Jackson (11-3-1 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) in the main event at Bellator 236, which takes place at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streams on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
In the video above, check out Macfarlane’s full hula dance just off the beach and the Pacific Ocean in Honolulu.
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