Douglas Lima is currently on a three-fight losing streak which saw him come up short in his against former Middleweight champion, Gegard Mousasi, lose his Welterweight title to Yaroslav Amosov, and lose a close split-decision against Michael Page.
Now, the former 170-pound will attempt to get back on track when he takes on Jason Jackson later tonight (Fri., July 22, 2022) in the main event of Bellator 283 inside Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington.
Another loss would send “The Phenom” tumbling down the rankings, so a win is of the utmost importance if he wants to remain relevant in the division.
“Three [losses] in a row, that’s never happened before, but it’s normal,” said Lima during a recent interview with MMA Fighting. “We get older and start to look at the other side of things, you know?”
For Lima, while losing isn’t ideal, he finds solace in the fact that he hasn’t been knocked out in any of the losses, which means his health didn’t take any blows and it will still allows him to compete at the highest level.
“Fighting is tense. If I had suffered three straight knockouts that would be one thing, but the fights I lost — I definitely lost to Mousasi and Amosov, but this last one [against Page] was close. I think I still have that fire in me, I still have a lot of fights to do.”
But Lima isn’t content with just getting a win, he wants to do it in impressive fashion in order to show the combat world that he is still here and still dangerous.
“What matters the most is winning, and I wanna win this the best way I can,” he said. “I wanna submit him, I wanna knock him out. I don’t want a decision, especially five rounds. Only decisions and decisions [in my past four fights] and losing a bunch of them, but that’s the game we play. It’s not always we can get the finish. Guys are getting tougher and tougher, especially since I’m always fighting the best.
“But I want to knock him out, I want to submit him, because I want to fight for the belt again and the only way I get that [chance] is by putting on a show with those knockouts people love to see. I’m confident I’ll get the knockout. With a good win, a nice knockout, I’m sure I’ll fight for the belt again.”
Jackson, meanwhile, is on the hunt for his fifth straight win and a victory over Lima would put him on the fast track for a shot at the division title, which is currently held by Amosov, with Logan Storley owning the interim belt.
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