Bellator returns to Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, Calif. on Friday, March 29 with an exciting welterweight clash, as former 170-pound world champion Andrey Koreshkov (21-3) squares off against Southern California native Lorenz Larkin (20-7, 1 NC) in the headliner.
Tickets for the event go on sale this Friday, December 14 and will be available at the Pechanga box office, as well as Bellator.com, Ticketmaster.com and Pechanga.com. The event will be broadcast live and free on Paramount Network at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT and simulcast on DAZN.com, while preliminary action will stream on Bellator.com and globally on the Bellator Mobile App. Additional bouts will be announced in the coming weeks.
Hailing from Omsk, Russia, 28-year-old Andrey Koreshkov will enter this bout on the heels of a 23-minute marathon with Douglas Lima in the opening round of the Bellator Welterweight World Grand Prix only a few months ago. “Spartan” will be making his 16th career appearance for Bellator and his first of his 2019 campaign. Since joining Bellator, Koreshkov has tallied a dozen victories over his six-year stint, emphasized by a welterweight world title win over former division king Douglas Lima at Bellator 140. Training alongside another former Bellator champion in Alexander Shlemenko, Koreshkov has earned 21 career wins over 24 bouts, including 15 finishes since making his professional debut in 2010. Of his 15 finishes, 12 have come by way of knockout and 10 via first-round KO, making the Russian knockout artist one of the toughest tests Larkin has ever faced. Koreshkov will look to add to an already impressive professional resume when he returns to action at Pechanga Resort Casino on March 29.
Larkin enters a pivotal main event matchup following a pair of victories over Fernando Gonzalez at Bellator 193 and Ion Pascu at Bellator 207. The official alternate in Bellator’s Welterweight World Grand Prix, “Da Monsoon” has held his own against the promotion’s elite, also competing against Douglas Lima and Paul Daley. Proudly hailing from Riverside, Calif., Pechanga Resort Casino provides an ideal site for the Millenia MMA-product to extend his current winning streak and put on a show for a raucous partisan crowd. With 11 of his 20 career victories coming via knockout, the 32-year-old striker hopes to add yet another former champion to his list of victims when he takes on Koreshkov in Temecula.
Updated Bellator: Koreshkov vs. Larkin Fight Card:
Welterweight Main Event: Andrey Koreshkov (21-3) vs. Lorenz Larkin (20-7, 1 NC)
