MMA free agent Lorenz Larkin is a man in demand and it appears that his future is in the hands of three promotions who are battling it out for his signature.

Larkin has been on the sidelines with his future in limbo ever since his destruction of Neil Magny back at UFC 202 last August.

Since then, the American has been a man in high demand, but he’s yet to put pen to paper on a deal.


This weekend, Larkin attended the ACB 54 event in Manchester, England where he cornered his team-mate Joshua Aveles to victory over Amirkhan Adaev.

Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk at the event, Larkin gave an update on his free agent status and which promotions were currently in the running for his signature.



‘I’ll be honest, right now things are still a little up in the air, but I’m hoping to have it all wrapped up real soon,’ Larkin said.

‘There are only really three promotions out there—Bellator, UFC and now ACB.

‘I’m hoping to have things wrapped up in two weeks.’

Speaking two weeks ago at the Bellator 173 card in Belfast, Bellator president Scott Coker stated that he was hopeful that Larkin would be joining his promotion in the next two months.

Larkin admitted that he was a little surprised Coker was that affirmative about it, but also said that Bellator was a serious option for him.

‘We’re talking with Scott right now,’ Larkin said.

‘We’ve been talking a while now so I hope that we can come to an agreement.

‘Scott is a cool guy and I’ve fought for him before in Strikeforce.

‘He’s great and you never hear anyone say anything bad about Scott.

‘Hopefully, we can sort out the terms and that, I’ve got nothing against fighting for Bellator.’

Here is Scott Coker providing an upddate on Lorenz Larkin and also signalling his interest in the likes of Paul Redmond and Norman Parke. pic.twitter.com/kAEUdZQnuY — Jim Edwards (@MMA_Jim) February 25, 2017

While Larking is hopeful a deal with Bellator can come about, one thing muddying the waters is the entrance of ACB into the race for his signature.

He explained why the Russian-based promotion was a real option for him now and how the talks had developed.

‘The talks with ACB are kind of new, but more than willing to witness what they have to offer after seeing the show this evening,’ Larkin said.

‘All the fights this evening were so well matched, every single fight was good to watch and the production is top level.

‘UFC and Bellator are the ones I’ve had the most serious talks with, but hey, ACB are an option I’m willing to listen to and they seem to want to talk.’

Having run out of contract with the UFC after UFC 202, Larkin revealed the circumstances by which he became a free agent and when the last offer had been made to him.

‘It’s no secret that I was presented an offer before the Magny fight that I didn’t feel was good enough – it was ridiculous, that first offer was like a slap in the face,’ Larkin said.



‘They then let me fight out my contract and here we are – I’m a free agent.

‘They then didn’t get back in touch with me until late February.

‘That whole time there were no talks – no nothing.

‘I don’t know if it was just bad timing or something, but I didn’t hear anything.’

Having spent the best part of seven months sidelined, Larkin is eager to get back into action and he’s hopeful that a deal can come together very soon so he can get back to work.

‘I’m like any fighter man – if I’m healthy I just want to be fighting,’ Larkin said.

‘If I’m good to go I’ll fight as many times a year as I can.

‘I’ve gone into free agency and I gambled on myself and I think I’ve won.

‘I feel like I know what I’m worth and that I don’t ask for ridiculous numbers.

‘I’m a fighter, but as a fighter, you have a duty to yourself to get what you’re worth.

‘As I said, I’m sure this is going to all be wrapped up real soon.’

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