Lorenz Larkin, who is No. 6 ranked middleweight in Bellator rankings, takes on unranked Mukhamed Berkhamov this Friday at Bellator 283, which airs on Showtime from Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington. In his interview with the MMA Underground, Larkin spoke about the reasoning standing behind taking on a lower-ranked opponent.
Lorenz Larkin on Mukhamed Berkhamov: “Guys don’t want to take this type of f***ing fight”
During the interview, Larkin admitted that everything is looking good for him, including his ambition of fighting three times during this year. To fulfill it, ‘The Monsoon’ will take on an unranked opponent, who is unknown to the majority of fans. Larkin had this to say about fighting someone, who is not even placed in the Bellator rankings:
“Guys don’t want to take this type of f***ing fights, you know. Especially the upper enchilada of guys that are in the rankings. These aren’t the fights that they want to take because: a) fans don’t know them, you know what I mean? And they don’t want to risk getting beat by somebody like that. So they’d rather risk getting beat by somebody who’s a name, you know what I mean. Which is bullsh*t, you know, that’s not why I got into fighting… I don’t mind it give me these guys, because I’m gonna see them no matter what. Because this guy’s thought and he will be, he will be in the rankings for sure soon.”
Watch Lorenzo Larking talk about fighting unranked Berkhamov in the video below:
The Riverside native has a 24 – 7, 1 NC record and currently rides a six-fight winning streak that started back in January 2018 when he defeated Fernando Gonzales at Bellator 193. This was a decision win, which is an occurring theme during this streak as ‘The Monsoon’ won five out of the last six fights thanks to the judges’ scorecards. Most recently he fought in Paris at Bellator 280, where he stopped Kyle Stewart by TKO.
Berkhamov sports a 15 – 1 record and will be looking for his 13th consecutive win. ‘Cherkes’ winning streak stretches back to 2013 and was stacked with victories in ACA, Tech-Krep, and Bellator. The Russian most recent fight took place at Bellator 268, where he submitted Jaleel Willis.
