Brazil’s Dhiego Lima, brother of multi-time Bellator champ Douglas and a two-time veteran of The Ultimate Fighter, has announced his retirement.
Lima (15-9) announced the news Wednesday, via his verified Instagram account. The welterweight’s statement can be found below.
Hey guys I am making this post to announce that I will be retiring from fighting. My timing and Gods timing is completely different, I feel like I’m in my prime but he has bigger and better plans for my life. I know when God speaks to me and he was clear that my fighting days are over. Thank you for everyone that has supported me through this journey. One thing I do is obey God even when I don’t want to and that’s the a lesson I hope you take from this, his plans are always better. Thank you UFC for my career and always taking care of me I will be around as a coach there because I have plenty of young guns that will make it and I will be there for them!!
Lima had been scheduled for an April date with Miguel Baeza. The status of that bout is now unclear, but it seems Baeza will need a new opponent.
After kicking off his professional career in 2010, Lima arrived in the UFC by way of The Ultimate Fighter 19 in 2014. Lima made it all the way to the final, only to come up short against Eddie “Truck” Gordon. Ultimately, however, Lima’s career would eclipse that of the TUF champ, who lost all three of his subsequent UFC bouts and exited the promotion the following year.
Lima, too, would be shown the door by the UFC in 2015, but after a solid run on the regional circuit that saw him win the Titan FC welterweight championship, Lima got another crack at the big show. As part of The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption, the 25th season of the reality fighting show, Lima again went all the way to the finals — but again came up short.
After losing to Jesse Taylor in the TUF 25 final, and adding a follow-up loss to Yushin Okami, Lima was on the ropes. But he bounced back with three straight wins in 2018-19, only to fall short in his last two outings. Most recently, Lima was knocked out by Matt Brown in 2021.
In addition to his Titan FC title and runner-up status on two separate seasons of The Ultimate Fighter, Dhiego Lima also won Performance of the Season on TUF 19.
Update, 2/9/2022: In an interview with MMA Fighting later in the day on Wednesday, Lima explained that God had spoken to his wife, saying “Dhiego’s last fight was his last fight.” Which leaves Baeza in need of an opponent. The original story has been updated to reflect this development.
