Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima is looking for big fights in his future.
Once again the Bellator welterweight champion, Douglas Lima is looking to pursue big fights in the not-too-distant future. After defeating Rory MacDonald in a rematch for the title, the 31-year-old has revealed a desire to take on some of the most notable names in the sport, including UFC title holder Kamaru Usman and former Bellator middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi.
In an interview with Portal do Vale Tudo, the ATT fighter spoke of how fighting Usman would finally make people take him seriously as one of the best welterweights in the world—a stigma Lima believes Bellator champions still have to carry.
“It would be a dream to have a fight like that today (against Usman). Even though I’m a champion and I defeated everybody in Bellator, people still don’t consider me one of the best because of the UFC. Many people think that the UFC champion is the best of all and that’s final.”
Although Rafael Lovato took the middleweight belt from Mousasi in the last 185 title fight, Douglas would still like to take on Gegard in a potential move up in weight. In Lima’s opinion, fighting the veteran is a perfect test for him.
“We’ll see (about moving up to middleweight). If there’s a belt on the line it would be even better. I want a superfight, I want big fights, and Gegard Mousasi would be perfect.”
Currently on a three-fight winning streak, Douglas Lima (32-7) defeated Rory MacDonald, Michael Page and Andrey Koreshkov in his last bouts, with his last loss being a unanimous decision to the MacDonald, in their first title clash in January 2018.