Douglas Lima

Lima was born in Brazil and moved to the state of Georgia in the United States graduating from Joseph Wheeler High School. He began training with American Top Team Atlanta.[4] Son to Fausto and Cologera Lima. He trains with Roan Carneiro.[5] Lima began his professional mixed martial arts career with decent success, soon compiling a record of 5–0.[4]

In February 2007, Lima faced the future Ultimate Fighter competitor Matt Brown. Brown dealt Lima his first professional loss[6] by defeating him via TKO due to punches in the second round.[4]

In May 2008, Lima had his first defense of the title against Brent Weedman. Weedman was reportedly brought in to the fight to showcase Lima's skills, as Weedman was expected to be an easy fight.[7] Weedman threatened early on with a triangle choke which was unsuccessful. Late in the second round, Weedman again caught Lima in a triangle choke, but transitioned to an armbar, which forced Lima to submit, giving Weedman the title.[7] Weedman would later go on to say "They brought me in because Douglas Lima would make a great champ for them. Now, it's my turn to step up. I feel good about the fact that I did a one-fight deal with them. We're going to talk a multi-fight contract now."[7] Following the loss, Lima never appeared for the AFL promotion again.[4]

Following another win via TKO, Lima joined World Extreme Cagefighting. His debut fight was scheduled to take place at WEC 39 against Justin Haskins.[8] However, Lima was forced to withdraw from the card while waiting on papers to arrive from the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services.[1] Lima's WEC debut never transpired, as instead, he joined King of the Cage, where he faced another future Ultimate Fighter competitor in Charles Blanchard, losing by unanimous decision.[4]

In September 2010, Douglas Lima joined the Maximum Fighting Championship, facing off against Ryan Ford. In front of Ford's hometown fans, Lima was able to defeat Ford via armbar, early in the second round.[9]

With the win, Lima was given an MFC Welterweight title shot against Jesse Juarez at MFC 27.[10] Lima went on to defeat Juarez via armbar, midway through the final round.[11]

Lima then defended the title against Terry Martin at MFC 29, winning the fight via first-round TKO.

In May 2011, it was announced that Lima had signed to fight for Bellator Fighting Championships.[12]

Lima entered into the Bellator Season 5 Welterweight Tournament. He fought Steve Carl in the opening round held at Bellator 49 and won the fight via unanimous decision. Lima fought Chris Lozano in the semifinals at Bellator 53 and won via KO in the second round. In the finals, he faced Ben Saunders and won via KO in the second round.

Lima got his title shot against welterweight champion Ben Askren at Bellator 64 on April 6, 2012.[13] He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Lima defeated Jacob Ortiz via head kick and knee at 4:50 of the third round at Bellator 79 on November 2, 2012.

Lima faced Russian MMA prospect Michail Tsarev in Season Eight Welterweight Tournament on January 24, 2013 at Bellator 86. He won the fight via TKO due to leg strikes in round 2. In the semi-finals, he was scheduled to face Brent Weedman. Weedman suffered an injury and was replaced by Bryan Baker at Bellator 90 on February 21, 2013. He won the fight via knock out in the first round. He was expected to face Ben Saunders in a rematch in the tournament final at Bellator 93. Lima suffered a broken hand.[14]

The rematch with Saunders eventually took place at Bellator 100 on September 20, 2013. Lima once again won in the second round, this time via a brutal head kick knockout.

Lima faced judo olympian Rick Hawn at Bellator 117 on April 18, 2014.[15] After several knockdowns due to leg kicks, Lima won via TKO due to corner stoppage to win the vacant Bellator Welterweight Championship.[16]

Lima was scheduled to make his first title defense against Paul Daley on February 27, 2015 at Bellator 134.[17] However, in January, it was announced that Lima had pulled out of the fight due to injury.[18] Lima was replaced by fellow Brazilian André Santos.[19]

After 15 months away from the sport due to knee injuries, Lima returned to defend his title against Bellator Season Ten Welterweight tournament winner Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 140 on July 17, 2015.[20] He lost the fight and title by unanimous decision.

After nearly a year away from the sport, Lima returned to the Bellator cage to replace Josh Koscheck against Paul Daley at Bellator 158 on July 16, 2016.[21] He won the fight via unanimous decision.

The win over Daley earned Lima a rematch against Bellator Welterweight Champion Andrey Koreshkov. The two met in the main event at Bellator 164 on November 10, 2016. Lima regained his title by winning by knockout in the third round.

For the first defense of his second title reign, Lima faced Lorenz Larkin at Bellator NYC on June 24, 2017. He won the fight via a unanimous decision (50–45, 48–47, and 48–47) to retain the Bellator welterweight championship.[22]

On September 6, 2017 Lima announced that he had signed a six-fight, two-year contract with Bellator.[23]

For the second defense of his title, Lima faced Rory MacDonald at Bellator 192 on January 20, 2018.[24] He lost the back-and-forth fight by unanimous decision.[25]

Lima faced Andrey Koreshkov in a third match as part of the opening round of the Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix on September 29, 2018 at Bellator 206.[26] He won the fight via a rear-naked choke in the fifth round.[27]

In the tournament semifinals, Lima faced the undefeated Michael Page in the co-main event at Bellator 221 on May 11, 2019. He won the fight via knockout in the second round.

In the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix final, Lima challenged Rory MacDonald in a rematch for the welterweight title at Bellator 232 on October 26, 2019.[28] He won the fight by unanimous decision to become a three-time Bellator welterweight champion and the 2019 Welterweight Grand Prix winner, receiving the $1,000,000 prize.[29]

As the first fight of his new, multi-year contract, Lima was scheduled to face Gegard Mousasi for the vacant Bellator Middleweight World Championship at Bellator 242 on May 9, 2020.[30][31] However, it was later announced that Bellator 242 and Lima's fight against Mousasi is being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[32]