The Atlanta, Georgia based figter brings a level of excitement into his quarterfinal bout with opponent Steve Carl when the two meet at tonight’s Bellator 49 event.
Lima, know for his submissions rather than his hands, has been steadily improving his striking, as well as his wrestling over the last few years. He knows that keeping the fans entertained with a good showing can be just as important as winning and is one of the reasons he’s excited to face Carl.
Speaking to MMAMania.com, Lima explained why he feels Carl’s style will “make it a great fight.”
What are your thoughts of your first round opponent, Steve Carl?
Douglas Lima: Steve Carl man, he’s a tough opponent. From the fights that I’ve seen, he really comes to fight. He likes to use jiu-jitsu and he likes to strike. I think we’re going to have a really exciting match for the fans. I don’t ever want to have a boring match. He’s not the type of guy that will just hold a guy down. He really tries to work from what I’ve seen. That will make it a great fight. People will like it, people will enjoy it and I will never underestimate anybody. This is not gonna be the first time for me and I’m ready for whatever he brings whether he wants to stand or go to the ground and wrestle. Everything.
Carl has some pretty nice submission skills, how would you compare his Brazilian jiu-jitsu to yours?
Douglas Lima: Well, from the videos of the fights that I’ve watched, there’s no way that I can compare. He’s good and I don’t want to say my jiu-jitsu’s better than him……..but I’ll be ready. I know his style. I know the way he fights. He’s a good ground guy but that doesn’t scare me in any way. I train in jiu-jitsu a lot and I’m a brown belt under Roan Carneiro and I’ll be ready for his jiu-jitsu.
Bellator has some pretty talented wrestlers at the top of the division. Your opponent, Steve Carl, is a pretty good wrestler and the men fighting for the title, Ben Askren and Jay Hieron, are excellent wrestlers. How much have you been focusing on your defensive wrestling to be able to keep the fight where you want it?
Douglas Lima: Yeah, I’ve been working a lot not only on defense but also on my offensive wrestling. I want to be able to take people down and control where the fight takes place. Wrestling is actually my main focus right now because in one of my recent fights I got taken down a lot so it just makes you train harder. I’ve been training a lot of my wrestling and after this fight I’m going to go out and just focus on wrestling straight for two weeks so I should be ready. I want to give Askren a fight and I want that belt and to be able to do that I’ve gotta get my wrestling updated.
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