SAN DIEGO — Canadian middleweight Aaron Jeffery moved a step closer to a Bellator title shot after earning a unanimous decision Saturday night over former three-time welterweight champion Douglas (The Phenom) Lima.
All three judges scored it 29-28 for the 31-year-old from Tillsonburg, Ont., who used his strength and grappling skills to spend most of the mixed martial arts fight in a clinch, denying the Atlanta-based Brazilian a chance to let his dangerous hands go.
Jeffery (15-5-0) offered a one-finger salute and a wry smile when some fans at Pechanga Arena booed the decision after a fight contested mostly at close quarters.
The Canadian connected on 144 strikes, 74 of which came on the ground, and landed four takedowns. Lima registered 90 strikes.
In the all-Russian main event, Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov (19-0-0 with one n contest) won a unanimous decision over Alexander Shabliy (24-4-0).
The San Diego show was part of the new Bellator Champions Series, each featuring a title fight. The program kicked off in March in Belfast, the first card for Bellator since it was purchased by the rival Professional Fighters League last November.
Jeffery has his sights set on middleweight champion Johnny (Pressure) Eblen but will have to wait his turn. The unbeaten American is due to face England's Fabian (The Assassin) Edwards, who defeated Jeffery in March.
Lima (33-12-0) pushed the action early and took Lima down 30 seconds into the fight. But it came at a cost, with the Canadian leaking blood from a cut. Jeffery crunched Lima into the fence, then dumped him again in the final minute of a dominant round.
When the round ended, Jeffery's corner worked on a cut above the right eye.
Jeffery kept coming forward to open the second round and ate a stiff left jab from Lima that briefly buckled his legs. But he survived and pressed Lima to the fence again. The powerful Jeffery, his arms around Lima's waist, fought in the clinch as he looked for another takedown.
While Lima avoided going down again, he was unable to get his striking offence going. Still, Lima's damaging early shot was the punch of the round.
In the third, Jeffery stalked Lima and quickly looked for a takedown at the fence. As Lima tried to punch his way out, Jeffery completed the move with a trip. Jeffery finished the fight delivering blows from above.
Jeffery's decision loss to Edwards in March was a middleweight title eliminator. The Canadian had hoped to take on Eblen at that Belfast card but the title-holder was booked on the PFL Champions vs. Bellator Champions card in Saudi Arabia where he won a split decision over fellow American Impa Kasanganay.
Lima was also looking to get back in title contention, this time as a middleweight.
The 36-year-old Brazilian last fought in May 2023 when he ended a four-fight losing streak with a unanimous decision over Costello (The Spaniard) van Steenis at Bellator 290.
Lima, who debuted in Bellator in 2011, fell to 15-8-0 in the promotion. Jeffery, who had lost two of his three previous fights, improved his Bellator record to 4-2.
A former Maximum Fighting Championship title-holder in Canada, Lima holds also wins over Canadian Rory (Red King) MacDonald, Andrey Koreshkov and Michael (Venom) Page.
Jeffrey has earned attention for his looks as well as his fighting ability. He is a man with a mullet.
Ahead of the Edwards bout, Bellator ran a clip of Jeffrey's August 2022 finish of American Austin (The Gentleman) Vanderford with the headline "Fear the Mullet."
Jeffery has a medical sciences degree from Brock University as well as nutrition certification and runs a nutrition consulting business when not fighting.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2024
The Canadian Press