Douglas Lima

By FCF Staff

Douglas Lima had his reign as Bellator’s welterweight champ ended by Andrey Koreshkov on Friday night, and while he doesn’t want to make excuses, it sounds like the fighter was less than 100% for the bout.

Koreshov surprised, and impressed, many observers at Bellator 140, by repeatedly taking Lima to the mat. Lima defended well from the bottom position, and scored some sweeps, but “The Phenom” was a step  behind the entire fight. Koreshkov was awarded the unanimous decision win.

After the card, Lima was asked what may have contributed to the loss, and whether he was injured. The welterweight relayed the following (quote via MMA Fighting.com):

“Everybody trains with injuries in this sport that we do,” Lima said. “It’s rough. But yeah, there was some stuff going on with this camp. But, like I said, I never want to use that as an excuse. I’m just happy that I went in there and fought five rounds. It was a fun fight. I just wish I was more ready for it. It’s okay. It’s part of the game, you know. You win some, you lose some, I’m going to come back better from it.”

Lima was competing for the first time since April, 2014, when he stopped Rick Hawn. Earlier this year the noted finisher had to withdraw from a bout with Paul Daley due to a knee injury.