Paul Daley vs. Lorenz Larkin Set For Bellator 183

The card for Bellator 183 is shaping up to be a stellar one as a significant welterweight bout has been booked for the event. Bellator MMA officials have announced that Paul Daley will take on Lorenz Larkin.

Bellator officials confirmed the bout following an initial report from The Telegraph.

Daley (39-15-2) is coming off a second-round submission loss to Rory MacDonald in the main event of Bellator 179 in May. It was a one-sided loss, to say the least, but now the British fighter looks to rebound against a fighter he apparently doesn’t think very highly of.

“Larkin is overrated,” Daley told The Telegraph. “I think that I gave Douglas Lima more of a fight when we fought. I brought it to him 100 percent. I don’t feel like Larkin did that. Not to mention, I don’t think Lima feared Larkin, and as a result, he underperformed. I think even Rory [MacDonald] feared me standing up. Granted, he has the superior ground skills, but he feared a stand-up exchange with me. Let’s see what Larkin does in San Jose.”

On the flip side, Larkin (18-6), who moved over to Bellator from the UFC earlier this year as a free agent, was given a 170-pound title shot against champion Douglas Lima in his promotional debut at Bellator NYC in June. However, he suffered a unanimous-decision loss.

“From the get-go with Scott [Coker], I made it clear that I want to stay active and get right back in there following my fights,” Larkin said. “After Bellator NYC I got a call, and I was chomping at the bit to take another high-level, competitive fight, and right now, Paul [Daley] is that guy.”

Bellator 183 is set to take place at SAP Center in San Jose, California on September 23rd. The main card airs on Spike TV while the preliminary card will air online. As of this writing, the bout order hasn’t been finalized. Here is the updated card:

Benson Henderson vs. Patricky Freire

Javy Ayala vs. Roy Nelson

Paul Daley vs. Lorenz Larkin

Aaron Pico vs. opponent TBA