Bellator champ Douglas Lima's pick to win would-be welterweight tourney might surprise you

If Bellator eventually assembles a welterweight tournament, champ Douglas Lima has his picks for the fighters to meet him in the final – and his next opponent is not among them.

“I’d say either Koreshkov or MacDonald,” Lima told MMAjunkie Radio.

The Viacom-owned promotion’s PR team teased a possible tournament this past week, putting Lima (28-6 MMA, 10-2 BMMA) beside other standouts at welterweight including Lorenz Larkin (18-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), who challenges him for the title on June 24 at Bellator NYC, which takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City and airs live on pay-per-view.

Lima doesn’t object to Larkin’s immediate title shot after defecting from the UFC earlier this year to sign with Bellator. He notes Larkin, the No. 8 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, was the next-highest ranked fighter after an injury kept him from accepting a bout with No. 4 Rory MacDonald, another high-profile free agent targeted for an immediate title opportunity.

But when it comes to overall competitiveness, Lima likes Andrey Koreshkov (19-2 MMA, 10-2 BMMA) and MacDonald’s (19-4 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) chances compared to Larkin, whom he compares to Bellator veteran Paul Daley (39-15-2 MMA, 5-2 BMMA) in his favor of the striking game.

“Out of all the challengers, I think those two are the toughest, because they mix everything up pretty good,” Lima said. “They’re both long. I think either one of them will be in the final.”

Lima relishes the idea of a one-night tournament, which evokes the old Vale Tudo gatherings of his native Brazil. He is enough of a veteran to have experienced tournaments under Bellator’s previous promotional leadership, though they typically were contested over three months. It appears the new leadership is more bullish on one-night contests, with the promotion holding a four-man tournament in 2015 to determine a light heavyweight title challenger.

Lima needs to focus on holding on to his strap against Larkin, a fighter he respects as an accomplished competitor inside the cage. But if he’s called to defend it against a field of Bellator’s best welterweights, he’s down for the challenge.

“Man, that would be fantastic if they were to make that happen,” he said. “I would love to do a one-night tournament, like the old days of Vale Tudo.”

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

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