Bellator middleweights Aaron Jeffery and Douglas Lima are gunning for a world title shot with their meeting tonight in San Diego.
Jeffery was one fight away from a shot at Johnny Eblen’s belt back in March when he lost to Fabian Edwards in Belfast. And he is now concerned that he might need two more wins in order to get his shot at gold as the division already has a top contender in Costello Van Steenis.
But he could leapfrog his way into contention with a big win over Lima, whom he believes is a legend of the sport. The Brazilian has already held the belt three times at welterweight, and is pushing for a belt at a second weight now.
Aaron Jeffery hails ‘legend’ Douglas Lima ahead of Bellator clash
In one of the main card’s big showcase fight this evening, Aaron Jeffery will look to return to the win column against Douglas Lima. And despite having more experience up at middleweight, he is respectful of what his rival has achieved.
“First off, he’s a legend,” Jeffery explained during an exclusive chat with Bloody Elbow. “I watched this guy for a long time and it seems like he’s older than he is. He’s not super old, but he’s been around forever. He’s had tons of high profile fights. So legend’s a good word.
“He’s moving up in weight and from his last few performances it kind of looks like he could be at the tail end of his career.”
However, he also notes that it could make his opponent more susceptible to being caught, given that he has already had such a brilliant career. “Maybe he’s not quite as hungry,” Jeffery teased.
“But I’m definitely not going to underestimate him, because his skill set is phenomenal. He’s a powerful guy good takedown defence. But yeah, it. It kind of seems like he could be on the way out.”
Aaron Jeffery details plan to pursue world title after Douglas Lima clash
Jeffery’s loss to Edwards cost him a chance at Eblen’s belt, but he is still confident of earning his way to a title shot with two wins. He must first wait for Costello Van Steenis to fight the winner of the rearranged bout that was due for London next week, and also has to focus on Lima’s imminent challenge.
“They’ve already got the next guy in line, right?” He asked. “Costello, he just won the number one contenders fight so they’ve already got a next guy after this fight, so I don’t know. I’ve just got to focus on beating whoever’s in front of me.
“They’ve already got the next number one contender fight. They’ve already got the middleweight title fight coming up. I think they put a big focus into middleweight and bantamweight because PFL doesn’t have those divisions.
“So even on the card that I’m on, there’s, I think, maybe three, or maybe even four middleweight fights. And then the title was supposed to be next week. They’re keeping the division moving, which is nice.
“I don’t think beating Douglas will put me next in line. I think I’ll probably have to win one more. But you never know like it’s a crazy sport. Anything can happen. So I’m I’m ready for whatever.