Top free agent Lorenz Larkin gave an update on his negotiations with the UFC and Bellator and affirmed he expects to sign with one of the promotions in ‘no more than two weeks’.
Larkin was in Manchester cornering his teammate Joshua Aveles, who beat Amirkhan Adaev by split decision after ACB overturned the result which was apparently incorrectly announced as a majority draw.
The highly sought after free agent spoke to MMA Plus backstage at ACB 54, touting teammate Aveles as a big prospect and giving an update on his free agent status.
Even though both UFC and Bellator are pursuing Larkin, it has been the Bellator promotion and President Scott Coker who have been the more public party, in terms of their eagerness to sign Larkin.
“My team’s talking to Bellator, it’s looking good you know and we’re still at talks with UFC, so hopefully I can map this thing out,” explained Larkin.
“It’s just one of those things, I want to hurry up and get it wrapped up, and get back in the cage. They’re both attractive to me, Bellator’s attractive and UFC’s attractive, so i’m just ready to see where these negotiations go but I know we’re at good standing with Bellator and i know we’re at good standings with [UFC], It’s just one of those things where a week, hopefully a couple weeks, i’ll be done, finished and in an organisation.
Larkin also refuted the notion that UFC hold the ability to match any offer Bellator make, clarifying that the promotion lost that right after 90 days of his last fight, a TKO against Neil Magny at UFC 202, on August 20, 2016.
The American also confirmed that the race for his signature is solely between the UFC and Bellator, and that although there may be interest from elsewhere, those are the only deals he is actively considering, with his final decision expected to come in two weeks time.
“Well it’s just showing you that it’s not one big juggernaut anymore, it’s good for the sport man,” said Larkin, speaking about the attractiveness of free agency in modern day MMA. “It shows that it’s not just one big corporation and that’s it, it’s showing that guys are getting attractive deals in other places and they’re not settling for whatevers thrown at them.”
