Former Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima returns to action Friday at Bellator 283, paired up with Jason “The Ass-Kicking Machine” Jackson in a five round non-title main event.
The main event billing was a late development, after lightweight champ Patricky Pitbull was forced out of his bout with Sidney Outlaw. Now, it’s Lima vs. Jackson headlining the promotion’s debut in Tacoma, Washington — and Lima let it be known Wednesday during the event’s media day that he’s not here to be a stepping stone.
Asked if Jackson might be overlooking him, after the word “gatekeeper” popped up earlier in the day, Lima (32-10) told Cageside Press that “That would be his mistake.”
“I don’t mind what people say. Gatekeeper? Hah. I’m here to be a champion,” Lima proclaimed. “I’ve just got to go over there and do my thing. I don’t care what other people say or think. Even after all these losses, I still know I’ve got it. That’s what matters. What matters is what I think, and I feel good. Been here before. Just ready to fight.”
If there’s been a knock on Jackson, it’s been his inability to finish fights. He hasn’t done so since his LFA run, with his current five-fight win streak seeing every bout go the distance. Lima is taking that in stride, despite his own record sporting 26 stoppages among his 32 wins.
“Nowadays it gets difficult to finish a fight,” Lima observed. “Even though you control the whole fight, it’s hard to finish somebody nowadays.”
The issue isn’t one Lima can afford to worry about ahead of Friday’s Bellator 283 showdown. “I can’t look at it like that. He’s been winning, he’s been beating tough competition, and that’s what matters. Of course we always want the finish, I always want the finish, so I’ll be looking for that. I don’t want to go to the judges, especially with what happened in the last fight. We never want to leave it to the judges, but it’s tough competition everywhere. Sometimes you’ve just got to take the win.”
And if he gets the win? The title, as he noted earlier, is the goal. “If I don’t have the belt around my waist, I still have a lot of work to do. The goal is always to be the champion. It’s my passion. It’s what I love doing.”
Watch the full Bellator 283 media day appearance from Douglas Lima above. Lima faces Jason Jackson in the main event this Friday, July 22, 2022 in Tacoma, Washington.
