Tag: Douglas Lima

Gegard Mousasi vs. Douglas Lima Booked For Vacant Bellator Middleweight Belt

Mousasi LimaBellator MMA wasted no time in booking a middleweight title fight. Rafael Lovato Jr. recently vacated the title after he revealed that he was dealing with a brain condition that would keep him out of action indefinitely. Lovato Jr. notably defeated Gegard Mousasi via majority decision to win the strap last summer, and the former […]

Mousasi Lima

Bellator MMA wasted no time in booking a middleweight title fight.

Rafael Lovato Jr. recently vacated the title after he revealed that he was dealing with a brain condition that would keep him out of action indefinitely.

Lovato Jr. notably defeated Gegard Mousasi via majority decision to win the strap last summer, and the former will unsurprisingly compete for the vacant title.

His opponent will be Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima, who will move up to challenge for the belt in an attempt to become a two-weight champion. The superfight was announced by Bellator president Scott Coker and is set to take place at Bellator 243 on May 9 in San Jose, California.

“Since we can’t have a cross-promotional superfight I’ll give you another,” Coker tweeted.

Mousasi’s defeat to Lovato Jr. halted an eight-fight winning streak that dated back to 2016. He has since bounced back with a split decision win over former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida.

As for Lima, he reclaimed the Bellator welterweight crown after outpointing Rory MacDonald in October. In total, he has won six of his last seven outings.

Bellator 243 will be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight with two-weight champion Ryan Bader defending his title against Vadim Nemkov.

What do you think of the card so far?

Gegard Mousasi vs. Douglas Lima Official For Bellator Middleweight Title

Bellator will crown a new middleweight champion on May 9. Scott Coker, the Bellator president, has announced that former 185-pound champion Gegard Mousasi will collide with current welterweight title holder Douglas Lima in San Jose. The bout will be co…

Bellator will crown a new middleweight champion on May 9. Scott Coker, the Bellator president, has announced that former 185-pound champion Gegard Mousasi will collide with current welterweight title holder Douglas Lima in San Jose. The bout will be contested for the vacant Bellator middleweight gold. Previous champion, Rafael Lovato Jr., relinquished the title due […]

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Bellator Champions Douglas Lima, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane Sign New Contracts

Bellator have moved to tie down two of their brightest talents. The American-based fight promotion has penned new contracts with welterweight champion Douglas Lima and flyweight queen Ilima-Lei Macfarlane. On Monday the organisation released the following press release announcing the news and praising the fighters, it read. “Both Douglas Lima and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane continue to […]

Bellator have moved to tie down two of their brightest talents. The American-based fight promotion has penned new contracts with welterweight champion Douglas Lima and flyweight queen Ilima-Lei Macfarlane. On Monday the organisation released the following press release announcing the news and praising the fighters, it read.

“Both Douglas Lima and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane continue to prove they are
two of the most dominant fighters on the Bellator roster,” Bellator president
Scott Coker said in a statement. “They made their Bellator debuts very early on
in their careers, have climbed to the top of their respective divisions and
have come to represent what this promotion is all about. As champions, both
have taken on all challenges and have succeeded in every opportunity. I look
forward to watching them continue their careers with us.”

Douglas Lima enjoyed the best year of his career in 2019. The 32-year-old won the welterweight grand prix and the 170lb title in the process. After beating Andrey Koreshkov by submission in the first round, he spectacularly knocked out Michael Page in the semi-finals. In the tournaments final he avenged his 2018 loss to Rory MacDonald, beating the Canadian over five rounds. Now we await his first title defence, after re-upping with Bellator you can only assume that announcement is not too far away.

The undefeated Hawaiian become the inaugural women’s flyweight champion in 2017. She beat Emily Ducote to capture the title at Bellator 167 and began one of the most dominant reigns in the sport. Last time out Macfarlane beat Kate Jackson over five rounds in December 2019. She’ll now be on the lookout for fresh challengers after basically wiping out an entire division.

Should champions like Douglas Lima and Ilima-Lei Macfarlane look to test themselves in the UFC or remain loyal to organisations such as Bellator?

Gegard Mousasi Open To Douglas Lima Fight For Vacant Middleweight Title

MousasiFormer Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi is hungry to regain his title. The former UFC star lost his middleweight strap after getting outpointed by Rafael Lovato Jr. back in June. He has since rebounded with a split decision win over Lyoto Machida. And with the news that Lovato is dealing with a brain condition that […]

Mousasi

Former Bellator middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi is hungry to regain his title.

The former UFC star lost his middleweight strap after getting outpointed by Rafael Lovato Jr. back in June. He has since rebounded with a split decision win over Lyoto Machida.

And with the news that Lovato is dealing with a brain condition that will keep him on the sidelines indefinitely, Mousasi could find himself challenging for the title again.

Although Lovato has not vacated his title or been stripped, it could very well be a possibility if he is unable to fight in the near future. And Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima recently expressed his interest in challenging Mousasi for a vacant title.

That sounds fine by Mousasi, who is also open to facing John Salter for a potential vacant belt.

“Bellator, send me the next victim. I’m hungry,” Mousasi tweeted. “@JohnSalter_mma or @PhenomLima, I am down for either. @BellatorMMA@MikeKoganMMA@ScottCoker.”

A Mousasi vs. Lima fight would be a very intriguing contest and certainly one of the biggest fights Bellator would be able to put out.

We’ll just have to see if that’s something Bellator president Scott Coker is also interested in, especially after seeing Mousasi dominate then welterweight champion Rory MacDonald back in 2018.

What do you think of a Mousasi vs. Lima matchup?

Rory MacDonald Not Ruling Out Douglas Lima Trilogy

Despite signing for the PFL, Rory MacDonald still believes a trilogy fight with Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima is possible. MacDonald ended his tenure with Bellator when he recently signed with the PFL last month. His last fight was a rematch with Lima where he lost his 170-pound strap following a unanimous decision defeat. The […]

The post Rory MacDonald Not Ruling Out Douglas Lima Trilogy appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Despite signing for the PFL, Rory MacDonald still believes a trilogy fight with Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima is possible.

MacDonald ended his tenure with Bellator when he recently signed with the PFL last month. His last fight was a rematch with Lima where he lost his 170-pound strap following a unanimous decision defeat.

The Canadian notably won the welterweight title after outpointing Lima in 2018. And he refuses to rule out a trilogy despite both of them now competing for different promotions.

“It is what it is, you know?” MacDonald told MMA Junkie. “Who’s to say we won’t meet up later down the road? We’re not in the same organization at the moment, but I still see myself fighting for a long time, and maybe he is too.

“You never know where our paths cross again. I don’t worry about it too much. Competition, he won one, I won one, c’est la vie. On to the next.”

MacDonald shocked many when he decided to sign with the PFL where he will now compete in the 2020 welterweight season. He was initially expected to re-sign with Bellator following the end of his contract and face Lima in a potential trilogy fight soon after.

However, “Red King” decided to test the market and is ultimately happy with his decision:

“Bellator had the opportunity to, you know, not have me as a free agent,” MacDonald added. “But I think just between this organization and wanting to take the risk on free agency, there was discussion, and obviously Bellator, they had their interest.

“But when it came time that I was able to talk to other promotions, I wanted to play the field. I wanted to see what options were out there, and the best option out for me was PFL.”

Do you think we’ll see the trilogy fight in the future?

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