Bellator 232 results: Douglas Lima downs Rory MacDonald to win welterweight title, grand prix

UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Douglas Lima is once again the Bellator welterweight champion.

In the final leg of the welterweight grand prix tournament, Lima (32-7 MMA, 14-3 BMMA) defeated Rory MacDonald (21-6-1 MMA, 3-2-1 BMMA) by unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45) on Saturday night in the main event of Bellator 232.

As he stood in the cage alongside Bellator president Scott Coker, rapper 50 Cent, and an oversized $1 million check, Lima had gold wrapped around his waist for the first time since June 2017.

The Bellator 232 headliner was the second between MacDonald and Lima. The two fighters rematched their Bellator 192 bout from January 2018. In the first meeting, then-challenger MacDonald defeated then-champion Lima by unanimous decision to claim the title.

The rematch had a slow pace throughout, much to the displeasure of the fans in attendance at Mohegan Sun Arena. MacDonald’s game plan was grappling-heavy, while Lima looked to utilize leg kicks and jabs throughout.

Despite numerous takedown attempts from MacDonald, the American Top Team’s Lima stuffed them at will. MacDonald’s takedown attempts remained largely unsuccessful as the fight progressed. In the final round-and-a-half, MacDonald began bailing on his takedowns halfway through completion.

While MacDonald maintained control for long periods of time against the cage, Lima was the one was doing most of the damage.

To get to the final, MacDonald and Lima had to get by two opponents each. In the opening round of the tournament, MacDonald was awarded a tiebreaker for his draw against Jon Fitch. In the second round, MacDonald defeated submission specialist Neiman Gracie by unanimous decision.

Lima had a quicker road to the final in terms of in-cage time. After he submitted Koreshkov in his tournament-opening matchup, Lima knocked out undefeated phenom Michael Page to advance to the final.

With the victory, Lima has now won three straight bouts since his loss to MacDonald. In his most recent four outings, MacDonald has gone 1-2-1.

With the victory, Lima became Bellator welterweight champion for the third time. He joins former lightweight champ Michael Chandler as the only Bellator fights to hold the same weight-class title three times.

Up-to-the-minute Bellator 232 results include:

Douglas Lima def. Rory MacDonald via unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45)
Paul Daley def. Saad Awad via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:30
Patrick Mix def. Isaiah Chapman by submission (Suloev stretch) – Round 1, 3:49
Manny Muro def. Nick Newell via split decision (29-28, 27-29, 29-28)
Kevin Ferguson Jr. def. Craig Campbell by TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:38
Ryan Hardy Evans def. Demetrios Plaza via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 3:03
Lance Gibson Jr. def. Dominic Jones via knockout (strikes) – Round 1, 1:58
Devin Powell def. Marcus Surin via technical submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 5:00
John Lopez def. Dan Cormier via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Jornel Lugo def. John Douma via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Zarrukh Adashev def. Tevin Dyce via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:39