Lorenz Larkin has been here before.
“Monsoon” was building a name under the
Strikeforce banner when Zuffa purchased the promotion and folded it into the
Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2013. So seeing
Bellator MMA where Larkin has been since 2017, merge with
Professional Fighters League isn’t exactly a novel experience for the 37-year-old veteran.
“I guess [it’s] kind of bittersweet, you know — the whole merger and things like that,” Larkin said during a PFL media day. “Unfortunately, it's not my first rodeo in this whole thing. So, you know, I was with Strikeforce when Zuffa bought them, so it was kind of familiar.
“But it's been good so far. Other than the no elbows, but you know, what can you do? I'm kind of just gonna let [my] actions speak for themselves and just see how everything plays out with me. I guess just kind of taking it step-by-step and seeing how the whole situation goes.”
Larkin will face
Alan Dominguez in a welterweight bout at
PFL 6 on Friday at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It’s his first fight since a split-decision loss to
Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator vs. Rizin 2 last July. The Milennia MMA representative says that he had been “trying to get a fight for a while now,” b
“Me and my team feel like I know that I'm the most dangerous when I'm active, you know? But lately I've just been fighting two times a year,” he said. “And when I'm active, I'm the most dangerous.”
That’s where PFL could stand to benefit Larkin. The Strikeforce, UFC and Bellator veteran is not shy when voicing his displeasure in regards to the current state of the sport, particularly when it comes to trash talk. He recognizes that the PFL season might eliminate some of the need to constantly sell oneself.
“I like it… I’ve said it before and you know the era we're in it's pretty watered down It's kind of a p—y era, you know what I mean?” Larkin said. “It's just, now there's no such thing as rankings, right? You know, people can say like, ‘Oh, you know, rankings count.’ But at the end of the day, rankings doesn't count. Now these fighters think that they talk a little s—t, and say some outlandish s—t, and then they get skipped. They skip over people, and then they fight and then they fight for the championship. So it's a weird era we're in right now. But this [season format] is refreshing. All you got to do is shut up and fight.
“And your performance is going to show you where you're going to be at. So it's refreshing to see that and to see that people that aren't good, but can talk a little s—t and stir up some stuff, can jump over people. But with this format, you just got to get in there and fight. It doesn't matter if you could talk s—t or not. If you lose, that's it. You're not getting your points, and you're not getting into the tournament. So it is refreshing.”
Larkin is also well aware of the positives a merger between two MMA promotions can bring, especially if one was struggling.
“If you look at a merger, it's always some company that’s bigger, right? So I guess that that would bring more opportunities for fighters and bigger opportunities and maybe bigger events, you know what I mean?” Larkin said. “I'm all about these type of things happening and the possibilities in these type of events happening. Hopefully it's all good and some crazy events come out of this whole thing and it just pushes the promotion and the sport forward.”
As for his long-term future, Larkin is uncertain. He has two fights left on his current deal with PFL and Bellator, but be doesn’t feel like age is catching up to him just yet.
“I don't feel like I'm old, you know what I mean? So, I still feel fast when I go with these young guys. I’m still keeping up or if not above … I still feel good. I'm still looking sharp, so I don't know - time has done me good. I'm like I’m a fine-age Moscato.
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