Riverside mixed-martial artist Lorenz Larkin has signed an exclusive multi-fight contract with Bellator MMA, ending a prolonged free-agent period for one of the fastest rising talents in the sport’s welterweight division.

Bellator officials said Larkin, a former competitor with rival promotion The Ultimate Fighting Championship, is likely to make his Bellator debut before the end of the year.

“They can expect me to get in there and fight my ass off like I always do,” Larkin said. “I feel like I’m in a great time in my life. I have an organization and a city behind me and what else do I need?”

Larkin confirmed reports that he had been pursued by several of the world’s top MMA promotions, including the UFC, Rizin Fighting Federation and Bellator, with Russian-based Absolute Championship Berkut joining the fray of suitors in recent weeks.

“It’s been a long process, I didn’t expect it to be that long,” said Larkin (18-5), who hasn’t fought since defeating Neil Magny in the final fight of his UFC contract on Aug. 26. “I wanted someone to get behind me and have some faith that I can deliver and I can be an asset to wherever I go and that’s what I felt like with Bellator. They pretty much checked off all the things that I was looking for.”

Signing Larkin, who has risen to No. 8 in the USA Today Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings even while being inactive for going on eight months, is a coup for Bellator as it looks to expand its roster and compete for fans and exposure in the rapidly growing MMA market.

“We are so happy to bring Lorenz back home,” Bellator CEO Scott Coker said. “There are a bunch of great matchups for him over here and I look forward to seeing his exciting style inside the Bellator cage soon.”

It’s would also appear to be a validation for the 30-year-old Larkin, who turned down what he deemed a lowball contract offer from the UFC just before the Magny fight in the hopes of raising his stock with an impressive performance.

His first-round technical knockout of the favored Magny, which improved his UFC record to 5-5 but was also his fourth UFC win in his last five outings, qualified as just that.

But Larkin says the UFC’s next contract offer didn’t come until March. Financial terms of Larkin’s Bellator deal, or of either UFC tender, were not disclosed.

Larkin’s switch is the latest in an emerging trend of more lateral movement of viable talent between the UFC and its competitors. That’s a departure from the previously established model of up and coming fighters mainly using them as a springboard to the UFC, which pioneered the modern MMA promotional model with its inception in 1993 and is still the largest and most recognizable MMA organization in the world.

Former UFC stars like Tito Ortiz have transitioned to Bellator after long UFC careers ran their course.

But 2016 also saw a stream of younger fighters like Matt Mitrione, Phil Davis, Josh Thomson and Benson Henderson – all ranked in the top 15 of their division at the time – leave the UFC for Bellator.

“I didn’t fight in the UFC just to be able to say I’m a UFC fighter; that doesn’t mean anything to me,” Larkin said. “I think a lot of guys think that way in the sport, as far in that organization or if they’re not even picked up yet, and that’s their goal — just to say ‘I’m a UFC fighter.’ But in reality that doesn’t mean anything if you’re not getting taken care of.

“It used to be back in the day that the UFC was a super power, but a lot of organizations are coming up and it’s not like that any more.”

Larkin was removed in early February from the UFC’s online roster and rankings, along with more than a dozen other fighters who had recently retired or seen their contracts expire.

In the meantime, Bellator’s courting of Larkin was more visible and aggressive, as Coker publicly praised Larkin and commented on wanting to add him to Bellator’s talent stable.

Larkin also has history with Coker, as he fought in Coker’s previous promotion, Strikeforce, before signing with the UFC in April of 2013.

“I had talked with Scott during this whole process and Scott’s just a straight up shooter,” Larkin said. “I have nothing but good memories from Strikeforce.”

Larkin said a big factor in his decision was feeling like he would get strong backing from Bellator in and out of the cage. He figures to be on a fast track to contend for the welterweight title currently held by Douglas Lima and is hopeful that Bellator will effectively promote him as an entertaining action fighter.

“My main thing is just looking for an organization that believes in me and wants to give me the shot,” said Larkin, who fights out of Millenia MMA in Ranch Cucamonga. “I feel like I’m an entertaining fighter, I’m a real fan favorite, a lot of fans love to watch me fight and I’m exciting.

“I’m one of those guys where I would rather try it and fail than never try it at all… I don’t make dumb decisions and this is one of the good ones I’ve made.”

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