Bellator MMA will return to Temecula, CA in March of next year, with welterweights Lorenz Larkin and Andrey Koreshkov facing off in the main event.
Bellator MMA is continuing to book events for the first quarter of 2019 at a frantic pace. On Thursday, the promotion revealed they would return to Temeucla, California’s Pechanga Resort and Casino in March, bringing with them a main event welterweight scrap between Lorenz Larkin and former champ Andrey Koreshkov.
Koreshkov (21–3), who won the 170lb title at Bellator 140 in 2015 and successfully defended it the following year against Benson Henderson, lost the title to Douglas Lima at Bellator 164. Lima just happened to be the man he originally won the title against, after Ben Askren left the promotion for ONE. After losing the second Lima fight, Koreshkov bounced back by winning two straight, but came up short in the rubber match earlier this year against Lima, which served as a Welterweight Grand Prix quarterfinal.
Larkin (20–7 (1)) was expected to do big things in Bellator MMA when he signed as a free agent in 2017. However, he struggled out of the gate, losing his first two fights in the promotion, including an immediate title shot at Bellator NYC against Lima.
However, in the past year Larkin bounced back, winning both his bouts in 2018. He’ll look to make it three in a row in Temecula, putting him in prime position to either step into the welterweight grand prix (a tournament he initially decided to forgo), or face the winner.
No other fights have been announced for the card, which takes place March 29, 2019.
