Bellator welterweight champion Douglas Lima didn’t have an easy task at Bellator NYC.
Lima defended his 170-pound gold against Lorenz Larkin at Bellator’s first pay-per-view under the promotion’s President Scott Coker. After five rounds, Lima retained his belt via unanimous decision.
In an interview with Flo Combat, Lima explained why it was difficult to put his recent challenger away:
“I couldn’t get the finish like I wanted, but man…That guy’s tough as nails, man. That’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever fought. I got my baby back–I mean, still got it, didn’t go anywhere. Move on to the next now. I was under the radar too much. Not anymore, I hope not. Big stage, big opponent, that’s all I wanted. I wanted to show everybody what I could do. I know I can beat all these guys. Everybody above me, I know I can beat them all. And I’m getting better every day.”
The champions credited the knockdown in round two to changing the complexion of the fight.
“I was very close in that second round when I got that knockdown, but I think I just rushed in too much. I should’ve picked the shots a little more or maybe have him get up right away. I would probably be able to put him out. But, man, he’s just a tough kid. He held on. I didn’t get the finish, but you know, we changed the whole tempo of the fight with that knockdown.”
