UNCASVILLE, Conn. – Lorenz Larkin’s longest layoff lasted 11 months, when he was making the transition from the defunct Strikeforce to his previous home, the UFC.

From then on, the fear of repeating “one of the worst things in my whole career” made staying active one of Larkin’s main concerns. Which is why, given the choice between joining Bellator’s stacked ongoing welterweight tournament or staying active outside of it as an alternate, there really wasn’t much of a doubt.

“I was never approached to be an alternate,” Larkin told reporters, including MMAjunkie, during a post-fight press conference on Friday night. “I was approached to be in the tournament. And I decide to be an alternate, because the time I would have fought in the tournament, it would have been way too long. It would have been the longest layoff of my career. So, what we came up with was, I’ll fight earlier, and it’ll be for an alternate spot in the tournament.”

As of Bellator 207, Larkin (20-7 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) is officially an alternate. “The Monsoon,” who came to Bellator straight into an ultimately unsuccessful title bid last year, defeated Ion Pascu (17-9 MMA, 0-2 BMMA) via unanimous decision to earn his second win in the promotion.

Larkin, who hadn’t fought since January, said he already felt the effects of rust in there. And considering the tournament is only one fight in – Douglas Lima defeated Andrey Koreshkov in a battle of former champions – one can understand why Larkin would choose the activity route.

It proved to be a bit of a gamble, though, as Larkin stood against what ended up being his third scheduled opponent. He’d first been matched up with Yaroslav Amosov, whose injury made way for Bellator newcomer and fellow UFC vet Erick Silva (20-9 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). Then, Silva withdrew due to injury.

Larkin made his disappointment with that particular withdrawal quite clear, questioning whether Silva just wanted an easier opponent for his debut. Silva waited to clap back Larkin’s way, throwing shade at Larkin and hinting at a do-over. (via Twitter)

@da_MONSOON so you bitched about my injury that much, and now this is how you fight? Be gratefull for my injury. #Bellator207 #FOXFightClub — Erick Silva (@ErickSilvaMMA) October 13, 2018

IT'S OK @da_MONSOON! Now that you have won from my substitute you can celebrate. But get ready because the story will be different with me. 👊🏻 #likeatiger #Bellator207 #FOXFightClub — Erick Silva (@ErickSilvaMMA) October 13, 2018

Larkin’s thoughts on that?

“At the end of the day, and this is public knowledge, every time I sign a contract, I show up,” Larkin said. “Win or lose, I show up. Anybody who knows my career never thought that I wasn’t going to show up for a fight. I train smart. I have some of the best coaches in the game. I train hard, and I train smart. And I come in to fight. If you had a good camp, there’s no way you come in 100 percent into a fight, period. Nobody does.

“So I have bumps and bruises and things like that and things that I come into the fight with, but I’m a fighter, man. I sign the contract, I show up on the date, and I perform. Period. So, before he starts talking, tell him to show up to a fight when he signs the contract, and then we can go from there.”

Larkin might not have outright shot down Silva, but he made it clear that his “first thought is the tournament” at the moment. If he does make it, he says, there’s really no preference as to whom he’ll meet – though, of course, he’d like to be in the final.

The alternate spot comes with a very specific set of circumstances. Larkin has to be ready to step in for another person, meaning he basically has to be prepared to step in against multiple different opponents and their specific skill sets.

Larkin isn’t too worried about that, though. The same way his adaptability made the changes in opponents a non-issue for Larkin, he believes that, as long as he has a good camp, not really having that much time to study his competition shouldn’t be a problem.

“As long as my conditioning is good, my coaches are working with me, working on techniques and things like that – I feel like with anybody I can always adapt in there,” Larkin said.

For complete coverage of Bellator 207, check out the MMA Events section of the site.