Douglas Lima Is Surprised UFC Let Lorenz Larkin Jump to Bellator

Douglas Lima spoke with MMA Fighting ahead of his dight with Lorenz Larkin at Bellator’s June 24th PPV. Some highllights are below:

On Larkin getting an immediate title shot: “I’m not surprised they gave him the title shot because he’s coming off two good wins, beat two-top 10 fighters, tough opponents. I’m happy to be fighting him. I’m glad Bellator booked this fight, especially on the New York card. I’m happy with this match-up.”

On Larkin and Ryan Bader jumping from the UFC to Bellator: “I don’t understand why they let guys like Lorenz and (Ryan) Bader go. Go figure. But that’s better for us. A new challenge. Many people say UFC fighters are better, and this is a chance to prove we can compete with anyone.”

On his fight with Larkin: “That’s a good motivation because now I can prove them that I can beat anyone. When he signed, when Rory (MacDonald) signed… I wanted to fight Rory, but he said he would only be ready in July, and then he signed to fight (Paul) Daley, so that’s it. But I want to fight them both. If everything goes right, I’ll fight Rory later this year, too. I want to compete with the best, and they are ranked over me, so I want to fight them. It makes more sense to fight Larkin now because Larkin is coming off two good wins, and his last loss was a close split decision, so that’s good for us. I already fought Daley, so I’m cheering for Rory to win [laughs]. It will be better to fight him than fighting Daley again.”

On how the fight will play out: “I think we match up well style wise. Our styles are similar. He’s more of a striker and that favors me. I don’t know, I like to fight guys like that, who really come to fight, and I think this is going to be an exciting fight. We will steal the show in this card, despite the other great names in it. I think this is the best match-up Bellator could have put in this card. I’ll try to finish him the way I can. I’ll try to knock him out, but if we go to the ground I’ll try to submit him. I want to finish him to show what I’m capable of doing.”