Lorenz Larkin spoke with the media following his successful appearance at Bellator 207.
Larkin welcomed Ion Pascu to the country, as the Romanian fought for the first time in the United States. Although the bout was Pascus first within the borders of the US, it was not his first with the company. Pascu debuted for Bellator against Ed Ruth back at Bellator 196. The Romanian fighter took the bout against Ruth on short notice, as the originally scheduled opponent, László Furkó, withdrew with an injury.
Short Notice Bout
The main card bout between Pascu and Larkin also came together on short notice. Bellator match-makers intended for Larkin to meet Erick Silva in Mohegan Sun Arena.
Larkin defeated Ion Pascu by unanimous decision. This bout was the first on the main card to fulfill the time limit. Both fighters began the bout slow. Pascu worked for takedowns as Larkin stayed on the outside with his jab and range strikes. As the opening round closed, the work rate of Larkin picked up. The Californian defended all three takedown attempts on top of easily outstriking Pascu. As the rounds continued, Larkin seemed more comfortable and became more effective.
Lorenz Larkin Long Layoff
Bellator 207 broke the longest layoff of Larkins career since his Strikeforce days in 2013. His last appearance came at Bellator 193, an event which he headlined alongside Fernando Gonzalez. 9 months separate the two bouts. Following Larkins victory at Mohegan Sun, Friday, he illuminated on the time away from the cage.
“I like to be an active fighter. As long as I am healthy, I like to fight. With this fight, it was stretched out for so long, I didn’t know when I was going to fight. I felt a little bit rusty in there. But as long as I stay active, I got some ring time in right now and he’s a tough opponent. I feel like its coming back, I just got to stay active.”
Welterweight Grand Prix Alternate
With the victory, Larkin is the official alternate for Bellator’s welterweight Grand Prix. Originally, the Californian fighter was approached by promotion officials to be apart of the Grand Prix. If he chose so, the layoff between bouts would have been larger.
“The whole thing about this tournament, just to clear it up, I was never approached to be an alternate. I was approached to be in the tournament. I decided to be an alternate because the time that I would’ve fought in the tournament would’ve been way too long. It would’ve been the longest layoff of my career. So what we came up with was, I will fight earlier and it’ll be for an alternate spot in the tournament.”
Erick Silva Call Out
Despite being the official alternate of the welterweight Grand Prix, Larkin still had at least one fighter eager to take him on. His originally scheduled opponent, Erick Silva, called out Larkin following his victory over Pascu.
“My first thought is the tournament. At the end of the day, every time I sign a contract, and this is public knowledge, I show up. Win or lose, I show up. Anybody who knows my career has never thought that I was not going to show up to the fight. I have some of the best coaches in the game, I train hard, and I train smart. I come to fight. If you had a good camp, there is no way you come in 100% to a fight. Period. Nobody does, I had bumps and bruises and things like that, things that I come into the fight with. I am a fighter, I sign the contract, I show up on the date and I perform, period. Before he starts talking tell him to show up to a fight when he signs a contract and then we can go from there.”
