Douglas Lima won’t get his trilogy bout with Rory MacDonald, after all.

Bellator welterweight champion Lima (32-7 MMA, 14-3 BMMA) said that, like many, he was thrown off guard when news broke Wednesday morning that MacDonald (21-6-1 MMA, 3-2-1 BMMA) had signed a deal to join PFL, marking the end of his six-fight stint with Bellator.

After splitting results over two meetings, Lima said he thought the trilogy with MacDonald was going to happen in the “very near future.” But then, just the same as everyone else, he learned the two no longer shared the same roster.

“I’m a little bit disappointed,” Lima told MMA Junkie. “It definitely did surprise me. It was unexpected. We had a close first fight, second one was a little better, but not as exciting. I thought we were going to do the third fight. But whatever. I got the belt. That’s what I wanted. It wasn’t about revenge or anything. I just wanted my title.”

Lima regained the 170-pound title he lost to MacDonald when he took a unanimous decision at Bellator 232 in October. The fight took place 21 months after the initial matchup at Bellator 192, which saw MacDonald edge out a razor-thin unanimous decision in a thrilling contest.

It was that first meeting, and the resulting loss, that signified a turning point for Lima, he said. It revealed some significant hurdles the Brazilian needed to overcome to meet his full potential, and he said his growth has shown in going 3-0 since. For that knowledge, Lima said he can’t be anything but grateful to MacDonald.

“The first fight is what changed me the most,” Lima said. “It was so close, it was a battle. So much more things I could’ve done, but I didn’t because of a mental block that I had there. But you learn from fighting, and it kind of changed me and it helped me so much. I definitely learned a lot more from fighting him than anyone else in the first fight. I showed that through the tournament, then I beat him in the rematch. You learn something from everyone in every fight, but Rory was the most, for sure.

“I have to be thankful for him. He taught me a lot in our first fight. I’m never going to forget that. It really helped me in my career just being in the cage with him all that time. But it’s over now. That chapter is closed.”

Given Lima has beaten most of the top welterweights in Bellator, he said losing out on a high-profile trilogy fight like MacDonald is definitely a bit frustrating. Lima said he hopes to be back to action in March, either defending his title or possibly moving up to fight at middleweight. Meanwhile, MacDonald has moved on, but Lima will always hold their rivalry close, and said he will be keeping tabs on the Canadian moving forward.

“Good for him, I think he’s going to do good wherever he goes,” Lima said. “I’m sure he’s being very well taken care of. Being a champion in Bellator, and what he did in the UFC, I look forward to watching him there for sure.”