Douglas Lima issues statement after winning Bellator welterweight Grand Prix

Douglas Lima has issued a statement after winning the Bellator welterweight Grand Prix after his unanimous decision win over Rory MacDonald at Bellator 232.

Douglas Lima won a clear decision over MacDonald to re-capture the Bellator welterweight title for the third time as well as win the Grand Prix. “The Phenom” was also awarded a $1 million grand prize for winning the tournament.

Here’s the message Douglas Lima shared on his Instagram.

“All glory to you God, thank you! To my amazing coaches and training partners, thank you so much! We’re still improving! I love all the support I got this week! Thank you all and God bless! Just so grateful! I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!”

The judges scored the fight 59-46, 50-45, and 50-45 all in favor of Douglas Lima. He avenged his previous loss to MacDonald in January 2018 and is now riding a three-fight win streak overall.

Douglas Lima had to defeat Andrey Koreshkov, Michael Page and Rory MacDonald en route to capturing the Bellator welterweight title and becoming the Grand Prix winner. Rapper 50 Cent was in attendance at Bellator 232 and presented Lima with his check for $1 million for winning the whole tournament.

The victory improved Douglas Lima’s overall career record to 32-7. The 31-year-old holds a 14-3 record in Bellator since signing with the promotion in 2011. He has captured the Bellator welterweight title on three occasions. The first was back in 2014 when he won the vacant Bellator welterweight title over Rick Hawn. The second time was in 2016 when he knocked out Koreshkov to win the belt.

This is also the third Bellator tournament Lima has won after previously winning the season five and season eight tournaments under the previous Bjorn Rebney regime.

With this latest win over MacDonald, there’s a very good argument to be made that Douglas Lima is the best fighter in Bellator history, not to mention one of the best welterweights in the world.

Who would you like to see Douglas Lima next defend the Bellator welterweight title against?