Dhiego Lima

Dhiego Lima is a Brazilian mixed martial artist born in Goiania who moved to Atlanta as a teenager to pursue a fighting career. He compiled a solid regional record of 9-1 before earning a spot on The Ultimate Fighter season 19 as a middleweight on Team Edgar. During the show, Lima impressed with back-to-back submission wins (rear-naked choke over Tim Williams, armbar over Roger Zapata), earning both Performance of the Season bonuses, though he fell short in the middleweight final against Eddie Gordon. His early UFC run was rocky, marked by first-round losses to Tim Means and Li Jingliang that led to a brief release in 2015. Lima returned in 2017 for The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption at welterweight, where he again reached the final but lost a back-and-forth bout to teammate Jesse Taylor via rear-naked choke in the second round. From 2018 onward, Lima found his footing with consecutive wins over Chad Laprise (first-round KO), Court McGee (split decision), and Luke Jumeau (split decision), establishing himself as a solid mid-card threat. However, he struggled against rising top-10 competition: he lost unanimous decisions to Yushin Okami and Belal Muhammad, the latter a clean sweep at UFC 258. His final UFC bout came against veteran Matt Brown in June 2021, where Lima was caught with a clean right hand and knocked out in the second round. Lima retired from competition in February 2022. Throughout his career, Lima relied on a submission-heavy grappling style backed by brown-belt jiu-jitsu credentials, landing more strikes from the standing position (77 percent of significant strikes) while defending takedowns at a solid 74 percent rate. His five submission victories (three via rear-naked choke, one armbar, and a triangle) exemplified his technical prowess on the ground. Though he never broke into title contention, Lima earned respect for his skill and willingness to take tough fights even as an underdog.