Douglas Lima says he’s disappointed Rory MacDonald left Bellator as it ruined plans for a trilogy fight.

MacDonald is the former Bellator welterweight champion but after losing his belt to Lima in the grand prix final, he left in free agency to PFL. Many were surprised as they figured the Canadian would re-sign to set up the trilogy with Lima, which the Brazilian thought would be the case.

“I was a little bit disappointed. But, at the same time, he was looking out for himself. He has something good going on there. We had two great fights but I was looking forward to the trilogy,” Lima said to BJPENN.com. “We are 1-1, I don’t feel like I lost. I’m not too disappointed. Best of luck to him for wherever he goes but maybe we fight again sometime soon. Let’s see what the future has for us.”

Whether or not they will ever fight for a third time is to be seen. But, Lima is not ruling out fighting Rory one day, whether they are in the same promotion or it is a cross-promotional fight.

If they do have their trilogy, Douglas Lima is confident in himself that he would defeat the former Bellator champion again.

“I think so. He did change his gameplan a lot in the second fight. It was not a war, like we had the first time around. But, I’ve figured his style out really good. If I’m being honest, I don’t think he’ll ever beat me again,” Lima explained. “I have a lot of respect for him, but I believe I’m the better fighter and a third fight happens I’ll get my hand raised again.”

For now, Lima is focused on Gegard Mousasi and looking to claim the middleweight title. For MacDonald, he won’t fight until 2021 after PFL suspended its 2020 season.

Do you think we will ever see Douglas Lima vs. Rory MacDonald 3?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 4/30/2020.