Douglas Lima well-prepared for trilogy with Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 206
Following a unanimous decision loss to Rory MacDonald at Bellator 192 in January, welterweight Douglas Lima has been able to spend the remainder of his year recovering and getting ready for the promotion’s upcoming eight-man tournament.
Regardless of the loss, Lima is primed and ready to close out his year in strong fashion, and cannot wait to get back into the cage for the start of the upcoming tournament.
“I wish I could have been a little more busy,” Lima told MMAWeekly.com. “I would like to get in three or four fights a year if I’m healthy. But I have a big fight coming up, a big tournament, and so far things have been going great and I’m ready to go.”
Having grown from one of the sport’s top prospects to a veteran fighter who has won multiple championships, Lima shows no sign of slowing down, and intends to keep things going 12 years and nearly 40 fights into his career.
“I feel I’m starting to hit my prime,” said Lima. “I’m 30 years old, and I’ve been doing this a long time, but I feel good. I feel like I’m at my best in my career right now. I can’t wait to show everybody.
“MMA you get older, you get injured, so getting to 40 is not bad. Hopefully I can get to 50 before I retire. It’s been over 10 years, but I still feel young. After all the years of training and fighting I still feel good. I still really enjoy it and I like where I’m at right now.”
On Saturday in San Jose, Calif., Lima (29-7) will square off against familiar face Andrey Koreshkov (21-2) in a main card 170-pound bout at Bellator 206 as part of the first round of the eight-man tournament.
“I’ve faced him twice before and I know what he can do, but the main thing for me is being ready for everything,” Lima said of Koreshkov. “He’s the type of guy that is good everywhere.
“He’s a strong guy and big for the weight class, so I’ve got to be prepared for everything. You never know what he’s going to do. You have to be ready for everything. I’ve prepared and I’ve been training for a long time, so I’m ready for whatever he brings and will have an answer for him.”
While there is an extreme amount of talent assembled for the welterweight tournament, Lima knows he has to take each fight as it comes and first and foremost he has to win on September 29 before he can begin thinking of his next opponent.
“When we first heard about the tournament I looked at each guy to see what’s up, but the main thing is one fight at a time,” said Lima. “In the tournament it’s one fight at a time. You can’t look past anybody. Everybody here is good. It’s not going to be an easy fight here, so I’ve got to stay focused on the fight that I’ve got.
“Koreshkov is next, and after that I think about (Paul) Daley or MVP (Michael Page) because they are on my side of the bracket. But as of right now it’s Koreshkov and Koreshkov only – I have to beat him to keep moving forward – so I can’t look past him.”
