Strikeforce's Lorenz Larkin Drops To Middleweight After Loss To 'King Mo'

Jan 26, 2012 - Standing a stout 5'11", with a reach dwarfed by the division's elite, Lorenz Larkin has often brushed aside questions about his size disadvantage at light heavyweight, preferring to travel the road of ‘if it ain't broke, don't fix it.'

Now, after getting dominated by "King Mo" en route to a second-round stoppage at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine, "The Monsoon" has decided it's officially time to shed the pounds.

Larkin's manager, Arnold DeWitt, broke the news to MMA Fighting on Thursday.

"Eventually we were looking at 185, but we wanted to test the waters at 205 first," DeWitt said. "He came into Strikeforce at 205 and we got a chance to see how things played out. If he had beat 'King' Mo [Lawal], there would have been no point talking about it. But we think Lorenz is going to be a monster at 185, and there are a lot of fighters there who should be concerned."

Despite the fact that his first professional loss will likely be overturned to a ‘no contest' because of Lawal's popped steroid test, the 25-year-old Larkin (12-1) was self-aware enough in defeat to realize the 185-pound division, bereft of 205's athletic giants, was a far more promising path for his career.

"At 205, he had a great speed advantage, but at 185, we think he's going to have huge power to go with his speed," DeWitt said. "You have to understand, he was knocking out 250-pounders in amateurs with either hand. Now that he's coming down to a smaller weight class, that's not going to abandon him. His power and speed aren't going to go away."

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Comments

Clearly the right move

I was highly impressed with him after the Lighty and Villante fights but the Rossborough fight was a bit of an eye-opener. He’ll still have to improve tremendously on his grappling, but I could definitely see him making waves in a very shallow division.

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by wonderfulspam on Jan 26, 2012 4:53 PM PST reply actions