Ilima Macfarlane: 'Soccer mom' KO video not the reason I got a Bellator contract

Ilima Macfarlane knows she’ll eventually be known as someone other than that fighter in a viral video who battered a clearly overmatched opponent – one now known as the “soccer mom.”

You’ve probably seen the video by now. It features Macfarlane making her pro debut with the controversial Xplode Fight Series organization. In it, Macfarlane takes on – and needs just 10 seconds to defeat – Katie Castro, who’s now 0-4 and clearly has no business being in a cage with an actual MMA fighter.

The January bout is uncomfortable to watch (via YouTube).

The video, which has garnered more than 1.2 million views on XFS’ official Youtube account (and hundreds of thousands more on other accounts), has actually prompted the California State Athletic Commission to investigate unsanctioned shows that take place on the state’s Native American reservations, MMAFighting.com‘s Marc Raimondi recently reported.

Macfarlane (2-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA), who fought this past Friday at Bellator 141 and earned a split-decision victory over fellow flyweight Maria Rios (2-3 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) on the MMAjunkie-streamed prelims, said the backlash to the “soccer mom” fight was initially tough to read.

“At first, I was kind of upset,” she said after Bellator 141, which took place at Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif. “When I found it had gone viral, I was like, ‘Awesome.’ But I wasn’t expecting the backlash that I received. So when I did take the time to read the comments, I was a little upset.

“But then when I clicked on their profile to see who there were, I was like, ‘Oh. Pfft. They’re just like keyboard trolls, keyboard warriors.’ Over time, I found them to be really funny. We actually found a lot of the comments hysterical. I was able to brush it off. It wasn’t a problem after that.”

Now, she hopes the focus will be on her Bellator career, though she knows the XFS fight will always be attached to her career since ESPN and other major media outlets picked up the story.

“Any publicity is good publicity, so we just took it in stride,” she said. “A lot of people didn’t know we were in communication with Bellator prior to going viral, so we were fine. I didn’t get a contract because of that video. I got a contract because of my skill as a fighter.”

Check out the full video above.

And for complete coverage of Bellator 141, check out the MMA Events section of the site.