At 22 years old, Douglas Lima is still a very young MMA fighter, but since his first fight at the age of 17 he has put together an impressive 17 – 4 record and recently won the MFC welterweight championship. The MMA News caught up with the young phenom after his fight.
The MMA News: “In your last fight we saw you win the MFC welterweight title over Jesse Juarez by 3rd round triangle choke, tell us about that experience and how it felt to bring home the belt?”
Douglas Lima: “It was man, good experience, and tough fight. Kid was a good wrestler, and he was winning the fight until I caught him. His wrestling was the major difference in the fight, I was training hard for it but I couldn’t stop some of his shots. Eventually I did get the submission so I was happy with the win and glad everything worked out for me.
”The MMA News: “Before the fight there was some trash talking going on, was it ever personal or just marketing for the fight?”
Douglas Lima: “It started out with him making a video with his whole team and they were saying that I’m just a jui juitsu guy and I’m a one dimensional fighter. That’s how it all started and it pissed me off a little bit, he was saying I’m just a bjj guy but the only thing he did was take me down, he wouldn’t stand and strike with me. Its all good though, I got the win. I stayed quiet and just did my job and everything worked out.”
The MMA News: “What did you take away from that fight in terms of things you want to improve on for your next fight and does having the belt make you want to train ever harder?”
Douglas Lima: “Of course the wrestling you know. Everything else in my eyes was ok it of course needs work but the wrestling is what I’m going to focus on. In the gym it felt good when I was training but I didn’t show that in my fight so I will have to work on that and not be on my back so much. I promise you next fight it will be much better, and I can’t wait to get back in there and show everyone. “
The MMA News: “At 22 years old you are still a very young fighter, how old were you when you first started training MMA and what got you into the sport?”
Douglas Lima: “I started training I was 13, and I did my first fight when I was 17 years old. It was actually illegal for me to fight and my mom had to sign a waiver. It was pretty funny the first guy I fought was like 33 and I beat him by tko in the second round and well it was a good night for me.”
The MMA News: “You train out of American Top Team in Atlanta, what kind of different trainers and training partners are you working with in Atlanta?”
Douglas Lima: “Most of the guys people don’t know, they are local guys from around here. But the coach is Roan “Jucao” Carneiro he’s taught me a lot about everything and is a amazing coach. We have a lot of good guys but they just aren’t that well known by people.”
The MMA News: “Your brother Dhiego had a very impressive showing on the last MFC card, what is it like having a brother in the same weight class to train with?”
Douglas Lima: “Man it was good. I always knew he was going to be good it was just a matter of time before everyone could see it—he’s always been a tough kid. It was really good for me to have my brother there and fighting on the same card. I was really happy for him and I knew he was going to come out like that, the kid trains hard and everything was just good.”
The MMA News: “Have you heard anything about your next opponent and who it might be?”
Douglas Lima: “I haven’t talked to the guys about it, I have a little vacation coming up next month. I am going to taking a month off and going back to Brazil and seeing the family, but hopefully by next March will be my next fight and I’ll be defending the title.”
The MMA News: “Anything you want to say to your fans or any sponsors you want to thank?”
Douglas Lima: “Just thanks to everybody who watch me, and sees the hard work we put in to it in the gym. I want to thank my management Suckerpunch, my team at ATT, and all my training partners. Keep looking out, I am training hard and I want to be known around the world, and you guys will see more of me I’m sure.”