18 of the best male Bellator fighters of all-time [UPDATED]

Best male Bellator fighter: Douglas Lima

Douglas Lima was already a fight veteran by the time he arrived in Bellator in September 2011. Lima made his professional debut in 2006 and competed in various regional promotions across the United States. This included a bout with future UFC star Matt Brown.

With his first three bouts inside the Bellator cage, Lima won the season five welterweight tournament, but he came up short in his title fight with Ben Askren. But three straight finishes in 2013 saw him claim the season eight tournament and he’d stop Rick Hawn at Bellator 117 to win the vacated championship.

Unfortunately for Lima, he would battle various injuries and ended up dropping the title to Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 140 the next year. After another year away from MMA, Lima returned by defeating Paul Daley and avenging his loss to Koreshkov, gaining back the 170-pound title in the process. Lima successfully defended the strap against Lorenz Larkin at Bellator NYC but dropped the title in a close decision against Rory MacDonald at Bellator 192.

Lima is currently in the midst of the Bellator Welterweight Grand Prix, finishing Koreshkov and handing Michael “Venom” Page his first loss. He will rematch with MacDonald for the final bout, with the winner earning $1 million to go along with the Bellator championship.

- Thomas Albano