Douglas Lima is no longer the Bellator welterweight champion. That distinction now belongs to Rory MacDonald, who beat him with a competitive decision in the co-main event of last Saturday’s Bellator 192 card.

Now several days removed from his loss to MacDonald, Douglas Lima has some significant regrets about how it all went down. Most notably, he feels he didn’t fight with enough desperation in the crucial fifth round of a very close fight.

”I wanted to knock him out,” Lima told MMA Fighting. “I knew it would be a tough fight. I’m glad that we put on a war, but it’s stuck in my throat, man. I kind of gave him the fifth round. I should have tried to get back up but I didn’t want to lose position and locked him in my guard, waiting for the referee to stand us back up again. That was my mistake.”

”I still have to re-watch the fight, but I think it was 2-2 and I had to win that [fifth] round,” he said. “But I saw that his leg was too hurt and he wouldn’t be able to walk, so I rushed in like crazy to kick and that’s when he used his experience and took me down. That was my mistake. I should have moved more because he wouldn’t be able to walk, and I gave him the round. Man, what a mistake, I can’t stop thinking about that moment. I had the fight in my hands and I gave it to him. It was my mistake.”

Lima continued, explaining that, having identified the errors in his strategy, he’s dying for a rematch.

”We clinched, I believe it was in the third round, and I saw his shin and started to focus on that. That was my mistake. He was waiting for the kicks, and I should have gone for knees, hands, to move more. He’s an intelligent fighter and adapted to the situation, so I can’t take that away from him. He fought the right fight, but, man, what a mistake… I still can’t understand that.”

”I did way more damage than him. I have to re-watch it. I still haven’t re-watched it yet because I’m so mad I can’t watch it now [laughs], but I will. I’m glad that many people said I won, that it was a close fight. I can’t wait to fight him again. I’m upset with myself. Hats off to him, he was a warrior, but make no mistake about it, I want a rematch as soon as possible.

”I’ve gained even more respect for him after a fight like this. Any other fighter would have quit. I’ve fought guys that quit between rounds because of my leg kicks, that has happened before, but he continued. That was his night. I can’t wait to fight him again.”

Do you want to see Douglas Lima and Rory MacDonald fight again?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/25/2018.