Lorenz Larkin had a close call in the first round of his Bellator 229 headliner opposite ex-champ Andrey Koreshkov. But in the end, he shook off an early setback to take home a hard-fought split decision.
The final scorecards were 29-28 twice for Larkin and 29-28 for Koreshkov, who dropped to 1-2 in his past three outings while Larkin picked up his third straight win.
Koreshkov thought he was in position for an early takedown after eating a leg kick. Instead, Larkin forced a scramble as he went for his own, and a clinch fight ensued.