Bellator 206: “Mousasi vs. MacDonald” comes to SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., this Saturday night (Sept. 29, 2018). And the mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion will debut on DAZN with a historic match as Welterweight champion Rory MacDonald (20-4) moves up to 185 pounds to challenge Gegard Mousasi (44-6-2) for the Middleweight title. Also scheduled for San Jose is a Welterweight Grand Prix bout where two long-time rivals meet for the third time — a “Phenom” named Douglas Lima (29-7) facing a “Spartan” named Andrey Koreshkov (21-2).
The series between the two is currently tied (1-1), with Koreshkov defeating Lima by decision the first time they met at Bellator 140 to claim the Welterweight title. Lima would avenge that loss and take back the belt at Bellator 164 before ultimately losing it to MacDonald in January of this year.
MMAmania.com recently spoke with Lima about this historic third meeting and his opportunity to kickoff the promotion’s Welterweight Grand Prix.
“I feel good, I feel great, the training camp has been amazing. I’ve been healthy this whole time, the weight’s been good. I’m looking forward to going over there, getting this fight out of the way, get this win and move on to the next (one). Everything’s been great.”
Although Lima wants to run the table and get the Welterweight title back, he’s admittedly shocked that he’d have to go through Koreshkov again to do it.
“I was a little surprised. I fought him twice already, (I) thought I was going to get a new face. Actually, I fought a bunch of those guys in the tournament already, but you know, what can you do? It is what it is. I like the match up. He’s one of the best fighters there in this tournament, and it’s a chance for us to close out that trilogy.”
Lima does see a few advantages in facing a familiar foe like Koreshkov, though.
“I’ve fought him before, you know I know what to expect. You know he’s a game guy, he’s a tough fighter everywhere, so I’m just ready — ready to compete against him.”
One argument against that advantage is that Lima’s side of the tournament includes Paul Daley and Michael “Venom” Page, making for a harder bracket overall. Lima largely agrees.
“I think everybody there is tough, but definitely (it’s) the harder side. You’ve got strikers, guys that are trying to take your head off, you’ve got to look out for that. I think every fight’s going to be hard, you know what I mean? The harder the fight the better — the better it is (to watch). You know I want to win this tournament (and) I want all tough fights, that’s what I’m going to have. End of the day it doesn’t really matter, you’ve got to fight who they put in front of you (in) the tournament, you know?”
Of course if Lima had been slotted on the other side of the bracket, he could have potentially faced MacDonald before the finals to get that Welterweight title back.
“(That’d be) better for me, you know? You have the belt, you get more money. But you know I’ll meet him, I’ll meet him down the line — if not him then whoever has the belt. The main thing for me is just to get that title. It doesn’t really matter who has it. For that I got to go through Koreshkov, and the next guy ... you know we get a chance to fight for that belt in three fights. It is what it is.”
Even with his stated desire to regain the prize MacDonald took from him in January, Lima is keeping his focus squarely on the task ahead this weekend in San Jose.
“I’m just looking forward to this one. That’s all I’m thinking about right now is Koreshkov, not about the rest of them, and we’ll see what (in) the future waits for us.”
The Internet loves to speculate, though, so I put the question to Lima of whether Daley or Page would advance to face the winner of his fight with Koreshkov.
“Ah, man!! Interesting, interesting fight right there. I don’t know! I have no idea. I have no idea. Let’s see what happens. They’re both tough, they’re both good strikers, I don’t know. I can’t pick a winner here. Let the best of them win, for me it doesn’t really matter.”
That doesn’t preclude him from divining the meaning of the fight, though, particularly for a brash undefeated fighter like Michael Page.
“You know I fought one of them before, I fought Daley before. This is a chance for ‘MVP’ to prove that he belongs in the top, because a lot of people before have been talking that he never faces tough competition, this and that. That’s a chance for him to prove them wrong, you know? Let’s see how he does. I think this is a good match up for both of those guys.”
Given that Lima took Daley’s best shots and still came out on top with a unanimous decision, that might be a better match-up for him, but either way he looks forward to being in the first Bellator card exclusive to DAZN.
“I love it. It’s a kickoff to the tournament, to DAZN, you know it’s a trilogy, it’s a great fight card, you know I’m looking forward to that for sure, that’s all good stuff. You know Bellator is doing good things and doing big things, you know it’s a big show. That’s what I want — I’ve been wanting that for a long time, but the most important thing for me is getting this win and moving on to the next round.”
If I had to sum up Lima’s demeanor in this interview in two words it would be “fully focused.” Let’s see how that plays out against Koreshkov in San Jose this Saturday night.
Complete audio of our interview is embedded above, and complete coverage of “Mousasi vs. MacDonald” resides here at MMA Mania all week long.
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