Douglas Lima was a little surprised to be greeted by Andrey Koreshkov in the first round of Bellator’s welterweight tournament.

Lima (29-7 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) has, after all, met fellow ex-champ Koreshkov (20-2 MMA, 11-2 BMMA) in the cage twice already. So, understandably, he figured he’d be meeting a fresh face to kick things off. But once the rest of the bracket was revealed, and Lima saw other names he’d faced before in that mix, he saw it made sense.

And now, as their Sept 29 meeting inches closer?

“I think it’s going to be a great fight,” Lima told MMAjunkie ahead of the DAZN-streamed main card Bellator 206 bout, which takes place at SAP Center in San Jose. “I think he’s one of the toughest guys in that Grand Prix. I know his strengths. I know his weaknesses. And he’s always surprising people. I believe, with each fight, he improves. He’s strong. He’s big. And very experienced.

“But I know what to do. I’ve been training hard. I’ve changed a few things in my training that I will show in my fight with him.”

The score is even between the two, with a unanimous-decision win in Koreshkov’s favor and a third-round knockout for Lima. The Brazilian, however, was the most recent winner there: After losing the belt to Koreshkov in 2015, he re-claimed it in Nov. 2016.

Lima, who’d go on to lose the belt to current champ Rory MacDonald, has other reasons to be excited. He’s had a chance to put in a long, solid camp. He feels strong. His weight is low. And, for the first time in a long time, he got to enjoy an injury-free training experience.

I’m very happy,” Lima said. “Thank God, everything’s going well.”

Still, Lima is well aware of the tough challenge he has ahead. Which is why, at this point, he isn’t even thinking about the second step in the tournament – namely, the winner of the highly-awaited meeting between bitter rivals Michael Page (13-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) and Paul Daley (40-16-2 MMA, 6-3 BMMA).

“Koreshkov will be the toughest fight, I believe, so the focus is all on him,” Lima said. “Daley, I’ve fought before (Lima won via unanimous decision, at Bellator 158). As for ‘MVP,’ it will be nice to see him fight these more renowned guys. And I believe Daley will be a very tough fight for him. But let’s see. I’m even excited to watch this fight, as well.

“I know a lot of people want to watch this fight. I do, too. We’ll see what happens. But my focus is on Koreshkov and, after this, we’ll study the next opponents.”

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Another idea that seems to have grown on Lima is the tournament format. Despite being appreciative of this ambitious undertaking from the start, as he told MMAjunkie in July, Lima was also disappointed that he’d have to wait longer to re-claim his majesty.

But Lima doesn’t seem to have had much of a hard time coming to terms with it. For one, the 30-year-old Brazilian has a good record when it comes to tournaments: He’s been in three of those, including two in Bellator, and came out victorious every time.

A chance of winning his fourth tournament – and, of course, being champion again – is already pretty sweet. But Lima is hoping that, at the example of the Professional Fighters League and its much-talked-about $1 million prize, Bellator will also sweeten the deal for its 170-pound winner.

“I believe for sure Bellator will do something similar with this Grand Prix,” Lima said. “We’ll see. We’re waiting. Hopefully they do something similar. Because a bigger prize would be ideal. There are a lot of tough fights – all fights will be tough. I believe this will be one of the most competitive Grand Prix’s in history.

“Our welterweight division at Bellator is very strong. Among the Top-10, there are only tough guys. We’ll see (about) this bigger motivation. Because, at the of the day, we have bills to pay. We have families to raise. So let’s see what the prize will be for this GP.”

For more on Bellator 206, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.