Douglas Lima believes he could KO Kamaru Usman and “it wouldn’t take much either”

Douglas Lima hopes he and Kamaru Usman will fight each other one day.

Currently, Lima is Bellator’s welterweight champion while Usman is the UFC’s 170-pound champion. Although a fight between them seems unlikely due to the lack of cross-promotional interest by Dana White, Lima hopes it can happen one day, but he isn’t holding his breath.

“I mean, to be honest, I don’t think it will ever happen but I hope it does. I just don’t think the UFC wants to do something like that. It’s a big risk for them because if he loses, he loses some of that star power,” Lima said to BJPENN.com. “I’d do it in a heartbeat because I know I’d beat him. It would be exciting. A fight like that should be about fighters not about companies. We are the sport, stuff like that should happen in our sport and it’s unfortunate it doesn’t.”

For Lima, he says that proves what is wrong with MMA as the best can’t fight the best. Instead, it is about companies and promotions.

Bellator’s welterweight champion points to boxing to see how two rival promotions made the biggest fight happen in Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder. So, he hopes MMA can get to that point sometime soon.

“Every sport pairs the best against the best. In MMA, it’s about the company. UFC wants to be known as the best, and they’ve done so much for MMA,” he said. “But, at the end of the day, it should be about who’s the best fighter in the world. If you want to prove you are the best, fight other people. That is the only part of MMA that sucks.”

Although a Douglas Lima vs. Kamaru Usman fight is unlikely to happen, Bellator’s welterweight champion is confident he’d get his hand raised and would do so by stoppage.

“KO. I mean, he’s a fantastic fighter, amazing wrestler and good striking. He’s good everywhere but man, I believe I can connect and put him away. I can stuff his takedowns because he wouldn’t want to stand with me,” he concluded. “I believe in my skills, I can put him away, it wouldn’t take much either.”

Do you think Douglas Lima would KO Kamaru Usman if they fought?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 5/1/2020.