True to his word, Lorenz Larkin, riding a six-fight win streak, is back in the welterweight division this week at Bellator 283.
After a two-fight stint at middleweight, Larkin (24-7, 1NC) stated at Bellator Paris back in May that he’d be returning to the 170 pound division. For him, it’s all about the right fights. 170 is his home, but he’s not against returning to 185.
“When I got signed with Bellator, I told them that I don’t mind fighting at both weights. But to me, there is a point, right? There are some big 85’ers out there, and I’m not too keen about that,” Larkin said during Wednesday’s Bellator 283 media day. “If it’s a fight, fan-friendly fight where the fans are super-excited for me versus a guy at 85 that makes sense, then I’m down for it. My main priority is 70, but I’m not scared to make the jump and do an exciting fight at 85.”
Larkin freely admits that “food is my kryptonite,” but ahead of his fight against Mukhamed Berkhamov, and physically is actually feeling better than ever.
“Now I got a six pack, so sh*t, I haven’t had that in a while. I feel good, man. My body feels really good,” Larkin exclaimed. “This is probably the best my body has looked at 70, I mean the way I feel.”
Elaborating on what has him feeling so good physically, Larkin pointed the finger at his schedule.
“I think the biggest thing with me, and probably my coaches can agree with, is fights back-to-back. Whenever you give me a break in between fights, bad sh*t happens,” he explained. “This was an early turnaround, and I was able to just keep training, my coaches were able to be on my ass.”
Over the course of the past seven or eight years, Larkin continued, he’s usually fought just twice a year. “And it’s always been the beginning of the year, and the end of the year. And between that year, I got all these parties, and home get togethers, and barbecues, and f*cking Thanksgiving that I had to deal with. Being the fight is back-to-back, it’s easier on me.”
Watch the full Bellator 283 media day appearance from Lorenz Larkin above. Larkin faces Mukhamed Berkhamov on Friday, July 22, 2022 in Tacoma, Washington.
