Douglas Lima will return to Bellator on September 7 in San Diego to face Aaron Jeffery, while the event will also feature Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Alexander Shabliy for the lightweight title and other notable matchups including Raufeon Stots vs. Marcos Breno and Lorenz Larkin vs. Levan Chokheli.
Douglas Lima is set to make his return to the Bellator cage in San Diego on Sept. 7. “The Phenom” will face Dana White’s Contender Series veteran Aaron Jeffery in a middleweight bout.
Promotional officials confirmed the matchup to MMA Fighting.
The Bellator Champions card will also feature Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Alexander Shabliy for the lightweight title in the main event, live on MAX.
Lima (33-11) had publicly complained about being sidelined for a year after PFL allegedly deemed his purse “too high” following the PFL-Bellator merger. Despite this, Lima quickly reached a deal with the promotion and now has a fight booked.
One of Bellator’s most successful champions, Lima has victories over Michael Page, Rory MacDonald, Andrey Koreshkov, and Paul Daley. However, he faced challenges after losing four straight fights. His last bout was in May 2023, where he defeated Costello van Steenis via decision.
Jeffery (14-5) has won three out of five fights under the Bellator banner. His notable victories include finishes over Austin Vanderford and Fabio Aguiar. He lost a decision to Caio Borralho at DWCS in 2021 and was recently defeated by Fabian Edwards.
The current Bellator Champions Series: San Diego lineup includes Raufeon Stots vs. Marcos Breno in the co-main event spot and Lorenz Larkin battling Levan Chokheli.
Stots (20-2) rebounded from a loss to champion Patchy Mix with a decision victory over Danny Sabatello last November. This win boosted his promotional record to 8-1; he also holds two wins over Sabatello and has beaten Juan Archuleta, Magomed Magomedov, and Keith Lee under the Bellator banner.
Breno (15-3), meanwhile, is looking to bounce back from a defeat to Sabatello in April 2023, which dropped his Bellator record to 1-1. He won a decision over Josh Hill in late 2022 during his promotional debut after beating Ary Farias and Leandro da Silva on the Brazilian circuit.
Larkin (26-8, 2 no contests) stopped Alan Domínguez in under five minutes at PFL 6 this past June. He aims to start another winning streak after his eight-fight unbeaten run ended with a split decision loss to Andrey Koreshkov in July 2023.
Chokheli (13-2, 1 no contest) has won his past three fights under the Bellator banner. His victories include decisions over Roman Faraldo and Michael Lombardo before tapping Sabah Homasi in under two minutes at Bellator 299 in Dublin.