The planned Bellator season 8 Welterweight final has been postponed. Douglas Lima vs. Ben Saunders was set to cap off the current season's Welterweight tournament, however Lima suffered a broken hand in his semifinal victory over Bryan Baker. As a result, the Lima vs. Saunders season 8 final will now be pushed back to the summer.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney broke the news earlier today via twitter:
Tough break for the re-match as @PhenomLima suffered a broken hand in his last fight. @BenSaundersMMA-Douglas will now happen this summer.
Lima and Saunders have met once before in Bellator, with Lima knocking out Saunders in the season 5 final in 2011.
The winner here will of course move on to a Welterweight title shot. While a delay like this is never a good thing, the timing of it is not terrible for Bellator. Champion Ben Askren still needs to defend the belt against season 7 winner Andrey Koreshkov before the Lima/Saunders winner gets his shot. If anything, this injury allows them to clear up a bit of the logjam at 170, potentially setting the winner up to receive his shot in the fall's season 9.
Bellator returns this Thursday with the season 8 Middleweight and Featherweight semifinals. As always, join us here at Bloody Elbow for coverage.
Latest From Our Partners
- MMA Fighters on the Hot Seat (BR)
- Most Indestructible UFC Fighters (BR)
- Top UFC Moments From Past Februarys(BR)
- Top 10 Weakest Punchers From MMA (BR)
- Best Knockouts of the Year so Far (BR)
- Top Moments From Matt Hughes' Career (BR)