Bellator Champ Douglas Lima Reflects on Sparring With Upcoming Opponent, Gegard Mousasi

Douglas Lima will be looking to become Bellator’s latest champ-champ on May 9th, when he battles Gegard Mousasi for the promotion’s vacant middleweight crown. But, recently the welterweight champ reflected on sparring with Mousasi back in 2017, as the latter was preparing for his Bellator debut.

Lima admits his sparring session with Mousasi and team, didn’t go so well

Bellator’s welterweight king will face Mousasi for the 185 title at Bellator 242, which was recently vacated by Rafael Lovato Jr. The latter relinquished the belt not long ago, after it was discovered Lovato Jr. has a brain condition, and his fighting future is uncertain.

Lima recently spoke with MMA Fighting, and while doing so, he opened up on a sparring session he had with Mousasi a few years ago.

“I was training with my friend (Roberto) Soldic in Germany, and Mousasi goes there to spar every Saturday,” Lima said. “(Mousasi) invited me to spar, and I accepted. I was completely out of shape and got beat up by everybody in the gym [laughs]. But it was great, it was quite interesting. They welcomed me really well there.

“I think I did one or two rounds of sparring with (Mousasi). It was alright because he saw I was very tired. That was two weeks before his fight with Shlemenko, so he was in shape and I was dead, so he beat me up [laughs].

“I respect him a lot, that entire team is great. Nothing against him. It’s going to be a great fight and I’m going after the knockout the entire time.”

Lima went on to say that he doesn’t think Mousasi should take too much out from their sparring session, and that makes sense. Not only was it almost three years ago, but as Lima noted, if he hadn’t been training much and was out of shape.

And what about the size difference?

Lima will be moving up to 185 to face Mousasi for the belt, who has also competed at light-heavyweight during his career. But, when asked about whether size could play a factor in their upcoming fight, Lima said this:

“I don’t think the weight will play a big factor because I walk around 200 pounds,” Lima said. “The thing is, I have to show up and fight. I’m not even thinking about the weight, I’m focused on the fight. I think I’ll enjoy this division more because the weight cut will be easier.”

There’s no doubt that Lima isn’t on the small side of the welterweight class. So, it could be the case that Mousasi won’t be that much bigger on fight night. If Lima can defeat Mousasi and win the 185 title, it will serve as a big reminder that he’s one of the best fighters in the game.

Bellator 242 will take place in San Jose, California.