Andre Lima’s left arm carries a small tattoo tied to one strange UFC debut: an uneven bite mark surrounded by the words “I Got Fucking Bit Bonus.” The incident brought him sudden attention, but it’s only one part of his collection. He already had shaded chest portraits, a circular target and a mix of illustrated work and lettering on his arms.
The bite-mark tattoo on his left arm
The bite mark sits on the inside of Lima’s left upper arm, just below the bold “1970” lettering. In the studio photo, he raises his forearm to show an irregular oval ringed with dark tooth-like marks. Curved script above and below reads “I Got Fucking” and “Bit Bonus.” The close-up makes the joke clear; in a wider fight photo, the mark can look like a dark patch.
On March 23, 2024, Igor Severino bit Lima in the second round of their UFC fight. Severino was disqualified and Lima was awarded the win. UFC later described the tattoo as a record of the incident, while Brazil’s Combate reported that Lima had it done over the bite mark that same evening. Dana White first planned a $25,000 bonus, then raised the total to $50,000 after seeing the tattoo; those figures describe the increase, not two separate payments.
The tattoo-studio image came after the fight, not during the Octagon incident. It shows the mark beneath the older numbers, with space between the two designs. Lima’s dark humor is built into the lettering, so there’s no need to assign the image a broader meaning.
The chest tattoos and target design
Lima’s chest pairs two different designs. On his right pectoral, dense shading surrounds several faces or figures, including one wearing a broad decorated hat and another shown in profile. On the left, thin rings sit inside a broken circle, with short dark bars pointing inward from four sides. Small central marks are visible, but their meaning hasn’t been explained.
A post-fight photograph shows both pieces while Lima raises his arms in a brown leather hat with star-shaped decorations. The portrait identities and Lima’s reason for choosing them aren’t established in the reporting about the bite tattoo. The circular piece can invite guesses about fighting or focus, but those remain interpretations. The photo was taken after the debut and before his studio appointment, so the bite and the tattoo are from separate moments.
The right-arm tattoos
When Lima punches Daniel Barez, his right arm stretches across the frame. Shaded images cover the outer upper arm, with a row of angular marks running from the shoulder toward the chest. Outlined shapes and darker patches continue down the forearm; the extended arm makes that coverage easier to see than in a posed portrait.
Another photograph shows the cursive name “Carla” above a small red heart on Lima’s right arm. The lettering is lighter than the surrounding illustrations, and the heart is a rare spot of color in these mostly black-and-gray images. The name alone doesn’t establish who Carla is. The “1970” on the opposite arm is clear too, but its personal reference hasn’t been confirmed.
In the Barez image, Lima is on the right with blue wrist tape; the other fighter is on the left. Tattoos visible on opponents in other photographs belong to them, not to Lima. For another fighter with broad chest and arm coverage, see Alessio Sakara’s tattoos.
Career context: his UFC debut
This debut photo shows Lima in white shorts on the left, throwing a punch at Severino. UFC’s preview of UFC 302 also noted Lima’s first-round submission attempts and active striking, details that can get lost when the disqualification becomes the whole story.
Lima reached the UFC through Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023. The order here is simple: the fight came first, then the bite, the disqualification and the tattoo appointment. The tattoo followed his UFC debut; it wasn’t how he earned his contract.
Life inside the Octagon
A later photo against Barez catches Lima reaching with his left glove as Barez’s red-taped glove enters the foreground. It’s a closer view of Lima’s expression and upper-body movement than the debut shot.
After the Severino incident, Lima told MMA Fighting that he wanted people to remember his striking and potential as well as the viral moment. In Guilherme Cruz’s interview ahead of UFC 302, he acknowledged the extra attention but said it didn’t replace his ambitions in the cage.
Career context: grappling beyond the headlines
A ground photo shows Lima grappling with Felipe dos Santos. Their blue and red wrist tape helps tell them apart, and much of the prominent tattoo coverage in the foreground belongs to dos Santos.
In a June 2026 UFC interview, Lima discussed returning after a long stretch away and looked back at his third-round submission of Barez in March 2025. The official interview below follows his September 2024 appearance at UFC Vegas 97. Together, the photographs and interviews place the well-known bite tattoo alongside the rest of his fighting career and his broader mix of linework, portraits and lettering.