The three-time welterweight champion will return to the stage for the first time in more than a year when he confronts Aaron Jeffery a three-round Bellator Champions Series 4 showcase on Saturday at Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Lima, 38, steps back into the spotlight having lost four of his past five bouts. He last appeared at Bellator 296, where he outpointed Costello van Steenis to a unanimous decision in their May 12, 2023 encounter. It was his first win in 1,295 days.
As Lima makes final preparations for his forthcoming clash with Jeffery at 170 pounds, a look at five of the many moments that have come to define him:
1. Funky Music
Askren did what he does best, and his Brazilian rival was powerless to stop it. The four-time NCAA All-American wrestler utilized takedowns, his uncanny scrambling ability and a suffocating top game, as he retained his welterweight championship with a clear-cut unanimous decision over Lima in the Bellator 64 headliner on April 6, 2012 at Caesars in Windsor, Ontario. Showered with boos from fans who desired more action on the feet, Askren swept the scorecards by identical 50-45 counts. Outside of a few right hands, sporadic punches from the bottom, occasional submission attempts and a slick first-round sweep, Lima did little of note from an offensive standpoint. At the end of two rounds, he looked lost and discouraged, his considerable repertoire utterly neutralized by an Olympic-caliber wrestler. Askren struck for takedowns in all five rounds, peppered the American Top Team representative with punches, hammerfists and elbows from inside his guard and scrambled away from danger whenever it surfaced. He tried to finish Lima with a third-round brabo choke but released the hold when it became clear it would not be successful, settling back into his routine and cruising to another decision.
2. Tying Up Loose Ends
“The Phenom” closed the book on his trilogy with Andrey Koreshkov in decisive fashion, as he throttled him unconscious with a rear-naked choke in the fifth round of their Bellator 206 co-feature on Sept. 29, 2018 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. Lima—who had split his first two meetings with the Russian at Bellator 140 and Bellator 164—drew the curtain 3:04 into Round 5. Koreshkov never seemed comfortable, and after a tepid first round, his Brazilian counterpart seized control with his polished, well-rounded skills. Heavy kicks to the body and legs, bulletproof takedown defense and sharp punching combinations provided Lima with a significant lead entering the fifth round. There, he marched down a fading Koreshkov with punches, sprawled on a desperation takedown, wheeled around to his back and cinched the choke, tightening his squeeze until the Alexander Shlemenko protégé lost consciousness.
3. Seeing Red
A penetrating jab, well-timed takedowns and airtight takedown defense carried the Atlanta-based Brazilian to a unanimous decision over Rory MacDonald in the Bellator 232 headliner on Oct. 26, 2019 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Lima carried all the scorecards in the Bellator welterweight grand prix final, eliciting 49-46, 50-45 and 50-45 marks from the judges. MacDonald seemed tentative and unsure of himself for much of the match, perhaps a residual effect from his first encounter with “The Phenom” a little less than two years ago—a fight he won but one in which Lima’s crushing kicks exacted a serious toll on the Canadian’s lead leg. Lima picked up steam with each passing round, leaned on his jab, continued to blast the Tristar Gym export with leg kicks and shut down his repeated bids for takedowns. He knocked down MacDonald with a leg kick in the fifth round, scrambled into top position and cut loose with ground-and-pound. MacDonald sprang a reversal in the final minute but could not muster the finish he needed to erase the deficit on the scorecards.
4. Antivenom Administered
Michael Page thought he had Roan Carneiro protégé right where he wanted him and could not have been more mistaken. Lima punched out the previously unbeaten London Shootfighters star in the second round of their Bellator 221 co-main event on May 11, 2019 at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. Page hit the deck in an unconscious heap 35 seconds into Round 2, the Brazilian’s substance having conquered his style. After a cautious first round from both men, chaos ensued. Page clipped his adversary with a right hand to the temple that shook his equilibrium and resulted in his hitting the reset button. Lima countered the oncoming Brit with a powerful leg kick that swept him off of his feet and then blasted the karateka with an uppercut as he tried to stand. Page folded and landed face up on the canvas, where he was met with a burst of hammerfists before referee Mike Beltran could arrive on the scene.
5. Irresistible Force
Yaroslav Amosov kept his perfect professional record intact and quieted whatever detractors he had left, as he claimed the undisputed Bellator MMA welterweight title with a five-round unanimous decision over “The Phenom” in the Bellator 260 headliner on June 11, 2021 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. The unbeaten Ukrainian swept the scorecards with 50-45, 49-46 and 49-46 marks from the judges. Lima was woefully ineffective, his best weapons neutralized by the three-time combat sambo world champion. Amosov held his own in the standup exchanges and completed takedowns in all five rounds, corralling the Brazilian on the canvas for extended periods of time. While his output was far from overwhelming, he stayed busy enough to avoid restarts. Lima made a pass at a Hail Mary armbar in the final minute of the fifth round, and though he had his opponent in legitimate danger, his efforts ultimately proved fruitless.