Bellator have now officially signed UFC fighter Lorenz Larkin to a multi-fight deal.
The 30-year-old had opted to test his worth on the open market when his UFC deal came to an end following a TKO win over Neil Magny at UFC 202 in August of last year.
Larkin had apparently been offered a less-than-satisfactory offer from the UFC prior to that win, despite the fact he was vying for his fourth win from his last five fights in the Octagon since dropping down to welterweight.
Apparently that made up his mind to see what else was out there for him, but he didn’t expect the negotiation period to take as much time as it did.
“It’s been a long process, I didn’t expect it to be that long,” Larkin told The Press Enterprise. “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.”
Reportedly the UFC did end up offering him another deal, while the likes of Rizin FF and Absolute Championship Berkut were also eager to capture his signature, but it’s Bellator who won out in the end, earning themselves yet another talented new recruit from the sport’s leading organization.
Things should feel fairly familiar for Larkin over at Bellator given that he used to fight for their CEO Scott Coker back in the Strikeforce days when he was still undefeated.
