Douglas Lima’s reign as Bellator Welterweight Champion will live another day after going through Lorenz Larkin at Bellator.
Lima spoiled Larkin’s Bellator debut with a unanimous decision victory (50-45, 48-47, 48-47) to open up the Bellator 180 pay-per-view card.
Below is our excerpt from the Bellator 180 live coverage at Fightful.
Round Five: The round begins with Lima attacking Larkin with some leg kicks, Lima then catches Larkin with a right to the upper body. Larkin starts connecting with a series of jabs against Lima, Lima responds by nailing Larkin with a right to the midsection. Larkin then barely connects with a jumping back kick to the midsection of Lima, Larkin backs up Lima with a head kick attempt. Larkin then catches an incoming Lima with a pair of lefts, Lima recovers and kicks Larkin in the midsection. Lima catches a swinging Larkin with a counter left hook, Larkin then kicks Lima right in the midsection. The fighters swing away at each other as the round ends.
Fightful scores the round 10-9 for Larkin (Final Score: 47-46 for Lima)
Official Result: Douglas Lima def. Lorenz Larkin by unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 48-47) to retain the Bellator MMA Welterweight Title
The fight nearly ended halfway in the second round when Lima’s left hook dropped Larkin and Lima started to land some vicious strikes on the grounded Larkin. Even though Lima didn’t end the fight right there, he was still able to land hard shots throughout the fight. Lima and Larkin managed to land an equal amount of strikes throughout the fight, but Lima’s power was the difference in the fight.
Lima, a member of the Bellator roster since 2011, is a two-time Bellator champion as a welterweight, but this was the champion’s first successful title defense. Lima has won his last three fights since losing his first Bellator Welterweight title to Andrey Koreshkov.
The champion’s next title defense could come in the form of another recent Bellator signee, Rory MacDonald. Lima said he is waiting for MacDonald to step up and fight him for the title soon.
“Come get it, come get it,” Lima said. “I know he’s been through a lot of tough fights, but he hasn’t faced me.”
Lima is now 11-2 as a member of the Bellator roster.
