UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Ilara Joanne is ready to skip her “kill list” and go straight at the champion.
Joanne (9-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) picked up a dominant win Friday in her Bellator debut over UFC veteran Bec Rawlings, submitting her with a kneebar in the second round at Bellator 231.
Speaking at the post-fight news conference at Mohegan Sun Arena, Joanne showed off her list, which included the likes Valerie Loureda, as well as flyweight champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane, who she respectfully called out.
“Ilima, fight with me,” Joanne said. “I’m your fan. Please, I’m ready.”
The order of the list doesn’t matter to Joanne, who decided to shoot her shot by calling the champ out anyway.
“People that are on the list is really not that important because even one person on the list was already retired,” Joanne said. “I can mark anybody off the list and add anybody onto my list. You do not want to be added onto this list because you’re going to be crossed off.”
Trained by the Pitbull Brothers, Joanne was able to spoil the promotional debut of Rawlings, who was looking to ride her momentum from competing with Bare Knuckle FC.
“She was the person coming from the UFC, she had a lot of hype, but that doesn’t matter to me,” Joanne said. “I came in here to do my job, and I did a job well done.
“Nobody knows who I am, and she may be thinking that I was going to be an easy fight for her.”
Perhaps a little too soon for Joanne to be getting a title shot, but she’s currently on a three-fight win streak and, most importantly, is game to take on the division’s best. So why not try and call out the champ? She’s got a list to attend to regardless.
