Lorenz Larkin Says The Pressure Is On Douglas Lima At Bellator NYC

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Lorenz Larkin (18-5 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) said the pressure of his main event at Bellator NYC isn’t on him, but his opponent: welterweight champion Douglas Lima (28-6 MMA, 10-2 BMMA). The event happens on June 24 at Madison Square Garden and airs on PPV. Here are highlights:

On Bellator holding an event in Madison Square Garden: “I can’t even describe how validating it is. Because it goes from you not feeling that you’re an asset like that, to a company saying ‘This is our biggest – they only threw one other pay-per-view, but this is the biggest pay-per-view they’ve done, at the biggest venue they’ve done. This is a monumental thing for Bellator. This is like the biggest thing in history for Bellator as far as my eyes go. So, it’s just crazy to think that they would want me for that event. It just shows what standard they have me at. I’m pumped, and I want to bring it that much harder, just to show that they made a good decision.”

On Lima being pressured: “I feel like (Lima) has all the pressure on him, more than me. He has the belt, and he has to defend it against this new guy coming into his schoolyard. In that aspect, I don’t feel any pressure, I’ve just got to go in there and do what I always do and fight. There’s no big pressure on my back. I just got surprised with a title shot.”

On how the fight may go: “I feel like (Lima’s) got an all-around good game. And his striking is pretty good, too. I feel like he’s going to have more of a problem dealing with me than I’m going to have a problem dealing with him. Because with him, he’s real traditional. There’s nothing I’ve seen that I was like, ‘Oh, where did that come from?’ And with me, I kind of don’t give a (expletive) sometimes, I’ll just try something just to try it. I know I’m a lot more unpredictable than he is. He’s more predictable. I’ve seen guys like him. He’s a big welterweight, but I fought big guys. I fought 205-ers, I fought heavyweights. That’s not a big disadvantage for me. I think he has a lot more to deal with on June 24 than I do.”