Dhiego Lima (left) (photo via UFC.com)

By Kelsey Mowatt

After having a memorable 2014 campaign, Dhiego Lima has incurred some significant setbacks in 2015, and his brother Douglas believes it’s time for the welterweight to take a break.

Dhiego Lima entered TUF 19 armed with a 9-1 pro record, and proceeded to advance to the show’s finals, before getting stopped by Eddie Gordon. The well rounded fighter rebounded last December by defeating Jorge Antonio Cezario de Oliveira, but in February, he was stopped by Tim Means.

Then, Lima agreed to step in for Roger Zapata on one month’s notice, and face Jingliang Li at the UFC’s May 16th event in the Philippines. Lima was also taken out in the opening round with strikes.

Recently Douglas Lima talked to Full Contact Fighter Radio, and the Bellator champ acknowledged that taking that fight, was a mistake.

“Honestly for him right now, I think he needs some time off,” said Lima, who is set to fight Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 140 on July 17th. “That’s exactly what he’s doing. I think it was a huge mistake to take this last fight. You know, we got excited, blah, blah, blah, we’re going to take it…”

“Even though he looked ready, he didn’t feel ready,” added the 27 year-old Lima, who is one year older than his brother. “Mentally he wasn’t there. Especially after losing the last fight by knockout, and then taking it short notice, I don’t know, I think it was just in his head.”

Although Dhiego has struggled in his last two outings, his older brother is adamant that the MMA world has yet to see him  at his best.

“People haven’t seen what he’s got yet,” added Lima. “I don’t know man. I think lack of experience, but he’s got all the tools, he’s got all the skills to fight anybody. I don’t know man. He’s been looking a little different lately and I just think it’s nerves. I don’t know what it is, but he has yet to show the people what he’s got. He’s got a lot of talent and he’s one of the best training partners…”

“It happens, it’s a sport, it’s the small gloves, he got caught in the beginning…he’s going to take some time off right now, get his head right, and he’s going to come back with everything to give. You’re going to see a lot more from him.”