Douglas Lima and Gegard Mousasi have more in common than their match scheduled for May at Bellator 242. Both men are admittedly not fans of trash talking to get motivated for a fight and while they were both present at Bellator’s press conference in New York City to witness a lot of it, they are both believers that the wins they have earned to get them to where they are now, are enough to make a fight interesting.
The funny thing about the two men looking to be middleweight champion is that they seem to both recognize each other’s strengths. MMANews had the privilege to speak to both Mousasi and Lima and while Mousasi recognized Lima’s strength in his stand up, Lima also acknowledged Mousasi’s ground game.
“Love the match-up. Stylistically, I think he’s great, good for me and I think I win the fight,” Lima said. He also has seen enough of Mousasi to assess his skills and believes the move to middleweight will make up for any size difference. “He’s good striker, he’s good when he gets on top like on the ground,” Lima said of Mousasi and that, “He’s strong a little bigger but I believe my power will carry on, you know at middleweight.”
Lima feels that not cutting so much weight will be a great benefit for him and in training he has already felt the pressure of big middleweights. “I don’t have to cut all that weight, I think I’ll feel good, man. I’ve trained with big middleweights before so, it’ll be good.”
Coming off a welterweight World Grand Prix and reclaiming the welterweight title along with a million dollars, Lima has every reason to be confident but for him it’s just focus. “I don’t let that stuff affect me,” Lima said of his recent success. As long as he stays focused, he feels he can continue his success and do well in May.
Bellator 242 is scheduled for May 9, unless pandemic situation forces Bellator to make adjustments.
How do you think Lima and Mousasi match up?
