Andrey Koreshkov’s first fight back with Bellator in a year and a half is a big one as he takes on Lorenz Larkin to open Bellator x Rizin 2 on Saturday, July 29.
The two are both ranked in the top ten of Bellator’s welterweight division and have competed before, back in 2019, in a bout that was decided by a controversial split decision.
Koreshkov and Larkin each dropped each other in the first two rounds, respectively, before Koreshkov took down and controlled Larkin for most of the third. However the Russian was unable to do significant damage while trying to maintain control and as a result two judges gave Lorenz Larkin the decision.
When asking Andrey about that first fight and if wrestling will also be a path for him in the rematch, his thoughts are clear.
“If people re-watched our first fight they would think that maybe it would be a good idea to wrestle with him… but I studied him a lot and I know him as a fighter and I think that he has very, very good takedown defense,” Koreshkov (26-4) told Cageside Press recently. “I watched different guys who would try to take him down and even if someone was able to take him down it is really hard to get any dividends from it. He’s very good at using the cage to get back up. I don’t think that it will work to spend energy to wrestle with him.”
“He prefers to fight standing up, I prefer to fight standing up as well, and it makes an exciting fight… I think it would make a fight more exciting.”
Certainly the fans in Saitama Super Arena, famed for its legendary history of having some of the best kickboxing fights in the world take place there, will appreciate a stand up battle between two dynamic strikers.
Koreshkov acknowledges the history of combat sports in Japan, both kickboxing and MMA, especially PRIDE FC, which he has fond memories of.
“Fighting in Japan was always one of my dreams. This dream comes true. Visiting Japan is also amazing, I’ve never been to Japan before. Also MMA has evolved and developed a lot since the PRIDE days. PRIDE created a lot of top level stars in combat sports. Fighting in Saitama Super Arena is like a dream come true.”
Speaking of those PRIDE stars, his favorite fighters of all time come from that promotion.
“My favorite fighters during the PRIDE days were Mirko Cro Cop and Wanderlei Silva because these guys always show very exciting fights, real battles. Either it would be Wanderlei all covered in blood, his blood or his opponents, or Mirko being very precise, very technical in his striking.”
Koreshkov knows how to put on a show himself, with two of his last three knockouts coming by way of spinning kick. He has a litany of other flashy finishes on his record, like his flying knee knockout of Justin Baesman in 2014. His answer when asked about how he got so skilled at these techniques was revealing about the mindset of him and his team.
“I train under Alexander [Shlemenko’s] guidance and we spend a lot of time practicing these moves like spinning moves and flying knees. The reason why, is these moves are very unorthodox. Not many people use them, especially not too many use them successfully, and that is why it is difficult for our opponents to prepare for them. It is hard to find people who use these moves really well [for] training camps.”
It takes a lot of physical skill and coordination to do these techniques, and one thing that helped him develop that was dancing from a young age, as his parents forced him to take dance before they would let him compete in combat sports.
“I think that there were some positive things that dancing from an early age helped me with, most importantly is coordination and stretching,” he said, regarding how dance helped him become a better fighter.
In this next fight Koreshkov will take sole ownership of the most fights in Bellator welterweight division’s history and a win would also give him the most wins in divisional history. He is not worried about such things though; Andrey is a fighter’s fighter and he focuses solely on his fight.
“I don’t pay too much attention to statistics… I never cared about that. For me it is going to be just another fight.”
He also said he will not be able to see the sights in Japan, despite having always wanted to visit, as he will be completely focused on preparing for the fight.
We asked Koreshkov about his life outside of fighting and he revealed himself to be a family man with a love of the outdoors.
“I have a family; I have a wife and two wonderful kids so I like to spend time with them. Also fighting, fishing is one of my hobbies that I really enjoy that helps me relax, going someplace outside of the city.”
Really though, what drives him is clearly a desire to fight. This next fight is a big one for Bellator’s fifth-ranked welterweight, but he declined to make a prediction of how it will go.
“I really hate to make any prediction in the fights because they never [come true], but in this fight I will try to use all my techniques and my spinning kicks as well. However, I am not going to devote too much energy to just doing them because I am quite sure that Lorenz Larkin is aware of what I’m doing and he will be very well prepared for that. It will be hard to catch him again with the same technique. So I am working on inventing something new, something that will give me an ability to catch him by surprise. I want to surprise him in this fight.”
If Andrey can defeat his rival, ninth-ranked Lorenz Larkin, at Bellator vs RIZIN 2 then he will be on a five-fight win streak and be next in line for a title eliminator, with an eye on perhaps facing the champion, Yaroslav Amosov. This card is a big one for Bellator and that only creates more opportunity for the Russian striker to earn his path towards that belt.
Watch our full interview with former Bellator MMA welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov above.
