No longer undefeated, Strikeforce light heavyweight prospect Lorenz Larkin has remained positive.

The Riverside native had his spotless record snapped by former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed Lawal earlier this month at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine, although the result will now have a permanent asterisk next to it after “King Mo” tested positive for the anabolic steroid Drostanolone.

Believe it or not, this was the second consecutive opponent of Larkin’s that failed a drug screening following a bout with him as Nick Rossborough slipped under the radar, testing positive for elevated testosterone after their Strikeforce Challengers 19 headlining fight last fall.

Larkin released a statement following the test result, claiming he’s accepted the loss no matter what the official ruling is and he spoke to MMAmania.com to clarify his position on the fight result, what he could have done better and what his future plans are in this exclusive interview.

Check it out.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Let’s start with the statement you and your management put out. You were supporting King Mo and weren’t making an excuses. I think a lot of people respected that you didn’t hide behind the test result.

Lorenz Larkin: Yeah, I looked at the tape and I looked at it like, as far as my technique, I did things wrong. Things like that, they still wouldn’t come into play regardless of if he was or wasn’t on anything. It was me not doing what I was supposed to do when I was on the ground. I still take it as a loss and I’m not too sure. I don’t know the verdict yet, just that he’s appealing it. if everything does come back and he was on something, then that does leave a bad taste in my mouth because it leaves things in the air. Coming into the fight, I knew Mo was strong, nothing to do with steroids, he was just a strong 205-er and if the test results came back and after the appeal and he was suspended for using it, just me being a fighter, like any fighter, I’m sure I’ll be thinking, “Could I have stopped the takedowns?” Regardless, there were still things I messed up on that led to that loss.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Were you intimidated at all heading into the fight?

Lorenz Larkin: No. Even before the fight, I’m not really a trash talker. To me, there’s no point. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the business of fighting and I understand that that makes fights and it makes it exciting but I just really choose not to take that route when I fight. To me, it’s funny because I think, it’s ridiculous, but there’s a need for it in the sport because new fans find it exciting and they want to watch it but to me, nobody in my profession is scared. Nobody is frightened of the other guy. We get contracts if we’re lucky like a month and a half before the fight, maybe longer to know who we’re fighting and we have to sign it. To me, it doesn’t make sense because no one’s scared and anybody I fight is not scared of me. They signed the contract too.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Now looking back, was four weeks enough time to prepare for a guy with his elite wrestling skills?

Lorenz Larkin: No, you know, it was a short camp and I wish that Strikeforce would have given me a little more time than that. I don’t like short camps like that but it was also really up to me and I made the decision to take the fight. If it was my choice, i would have a longer camp for anybody, even someone who’s a lesser caliber. I just like having longer camps than that.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): You also really stepped up your training for this fight. You worked with Phil Davis and you worked with Kenny Johnson, the wrestling coach of Black House, so are you going to keep that relationship in place moving forward?

Lorenz Larkin: Oh yeah, I’m going to always be cross-training now. We developed a good relationship with those guys and the door’s always open for us and to them so that’s an opportunity I plan on taking.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Now this is something that’s been talked about the most other than Mo’s test result, but you’ve said multiple times that you would never consider dropping to middleweight until someone was physically manhandling you. Do you have any ideas about dropping to middleweight now after what happened in your last fight?

Lorenz Larkin: To me, it was something I wasn’t really interested in but I had an open mind for it. I’m still trying to weigh out my options right now. I want to see who Strikeforce is interested in having me fight next and we’ll go from there. It’s just something that I wouldn’t consider not doing. I guess it matters on the timing or the situation if I was to switch over.

Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): So what’s next for Lorenz Larkin moving forward?

Lorenz Larkin: I’m hoping Strikeforce gives me a call and tells me who I’m fighting next. I had a little bit of red in my eye but that was it from my fight. I’m back to normal. I’m healed up and I’m ready to get back in the gym and start going hard again. My next fight will be better than the last.

Lorenz would like to thank everybody who helped him for his camp, everyone who’s behind him. Also, he’d like to thank his sponsors Ion Me and Splat Hair Color. You can follow him on Twitter@da_Monsoon.

So what do you think, Maniacs?

Should Larkin drop down to middleweight despite the fact that the loss was removed from his record? Have you tempered your expectations or does he still have a bright future?

Opinions please.

The stars of UFC on FOX and Dana White answer questions from the Press after an amazing night of fights.

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Jan 28, 2012

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After taking the fight on 11 days’ notice, Chris Weidman beats Demian Maia in a war of attrition. The undefeated Weidman discusses the win, the difficult weight cut before the fight, and what it means to beat a top-flight opponent.

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It’s the fight that got Carlos Condit his title shot and it’s free! Watch the ‘Natural Born Killer’ ruin Dong Hyun Kim’s perfect record at UFC 132.

Article

CHICAGO, January 28 –Rashad Evans knocked Phil Davis from the ranks of the unbeaten Saturday night with a conservative five round performance in the UFC on FOX main event at the United Center, but he will probably need to take more risks when he faces friend-turned rival Jon Jones for the UFC light heavyweight crown.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 22, 2012) – Kerry Tharp, NASCAR senior director of competition communications, won the Ken Patterson Helping Others Award on Sunday night during the 2012 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Convention at the Embassy Suites in Concord, N.C.

The prestigious award, named after the former director of public relations for Talladega Superspeedway, recognizes a public relations representative in the motorsports industry who has “exhibited the kind, generous qualities that Patterson always demonstrated.”

Affectionately – and appropriately – nicknamed the “Commander,” Tharp leads all competition communications efforts for the NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications department. Tharp joined NASCAR in 2005 after a 20-year tenure as sports information director at the University of South Carolina.

“Kerry is a great communications professional, but more importantly he is a great human being and that is reflected in this award,” said Brett Jewkes, NASCAR vice president and chief communications officer. “He loves our sport and the people in our industry and it shows in everything he does. We’re very proud of Kerry and grateful to the NMPA for honoring him with this prestigious award.”

Sports has forever fueled Tharp’s passion – and career. For 26 years, Tharp worked in collegiate athletics, starting in the sports information department at his alma mater, Western Kentucky University before moving to graduate school at the University of Tennessee. Following UT, Tharp worked for the University of Oklahoma for four years before moving to South Carolina.

Tharp joined NASCAR as director for the sanctioning body’s licensing office in Charlotte in April of 2005. In February of 2006, he moved to his current role as head of competition communications, based out of NASCAR’s Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. Tharp was promoted to his current title of senior director in October of 2010.

Go Daddy will make its ring debut on Sat, Jan 21 as the presenting sponsor of NBC Sports Network Fight Night, its new boxing series featuring premier boxing talent, it was announced today.

Go Daddy, the world’s largest provider of Web hosting[1], domain name registrations and net new SSL Certificates, cites the strong loyalty of boxing fans as one of its reasons for entering the squared circle.

Jon Miller, President, programming, NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network, said: “Go Daddy has been a great partner of ours and we’re excited to team up with them to launch the Fight Night Series.”

Live from the Asylum Arena in Philadelphia, PA., the first Fight Night card will feature
a classic match-up of boxer vs. puncher, with two talented, undefeated Philadelphia heavyweights, Bryant Jennings and Maurice Byarm. Philly welterweight Gabriel Rosado takes on tough Mexican Jesus Soto-Karass in the co-feature.

The Fight Night cards are being scheduled in cities that are served by a Comcast Sports Group regional network. The regional networks will help promote the events and have the ability to re-air fights.

“Our goal is to build an NBC Sports boxing brand where consumers know our fights are always going to be competitive and that they can expect exciting ‘crossroads’ fights where the fights are very evenly matched to the point where it’s tough to predict a winner in advance,” Miller said.

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