Douglas Lima is once again the Bellator welterweight champion.

Lima was near-perfect in a rematch with Rory MacDonald, shutting out the decorated vet on two of three judges scorecards to take home a unanimous decision and recapture the welterweight title.

The final scores were 50-45 twice and 49-46 for Lima, who picked up a $1 million check as the winner of the Bellator welterweight grand prix.

“It’s been a long road, but we did it,” said the three-time champ afterward. “He’s a warrior. I’m honored to share the cage with him one more time, and I have nothing but respect for him.”

The win capped an impressive run for Lima in the eight-man competition. The Brazilian slept former champ Andrey Koreshkov and stopped the hype train of Michael “Venom” Page with a knockout in his first two tourney bouts.

“Heart,” Lima explained of his approach to the rematch against MacDonald. “The meaning of that man is heart. I picked that up the first time we fought. I learned so much in that fight, and I have him to thank for that.”

MacDonald made sure he wasn’t an easy target early in the fight, using lateral movement to keep Lima from tenderizing his lead leg. A pair of hard kicks still thwacked that target and his body, and by the midway point of the opening frame, he had shot for a takedown. Lima stopped it cold and resisted further efforts to complete takedowns.

“I trained very hard and felt very sharp,” MacDonald said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t put as much pressure as I should have. I wasn’t on that gas pedal enough until later in the fight when it started working.”

The pace didn’t improve much in the second frame as MacDonald moved cautiously against Lima’s forward pressure. Lima did most of the effective striking – though he never threw more than one punch or kick at a time – and stopped a single takedown attempt.