Paul Daley hitting Lorenz Larkin (right) (photo via Bellator)

By FCF Staff

The last man to beat Lorenz Larkin is Paul Daley. But if the welterweight is hoping to avenge that defeat, “Semtex” says an interim belt will need to be on the line.

Larkin and Daley fought back in 2017, and the latter won the fight via second round knockout. Since then, however, Larkin has won four straight fights and is in the mix for a title shot.

The man who currently holds the welterweight belt, Douglas Lima, is expected to face Gegard Mousasi for the vacant middleweight title, later this year. As a result, Daley (42-17-2) recently raised the prospect of an interim welterweight title being put up, while talking about a rematch with Larkin (22-7) (quotes via MMA Junkie).

“I find it so funny that it really gets to him (Larkin), that loss, because there ain’t (expletive) he could do,” Daley said. “If I fight him again, I’ll knock him out again. I’m just better than he is. Styles make fights and my style beats his style everyday. Whether it’s now, whether it’s next year, I’ll knock that guy out every time.

“At the moment, he’s talking about he beat (Andrey) Koreshkov and all of this stuff, trying to keep my name out of his future plans and that kind of shows his confidence in being able to get a win over me. He knows he can’t beat me, I know he can’t beat me but it’s an interesting fight only if it’s for the interim title.”

Daley, meanwhile, is coming off wins over Erick Silva and Saad Awad, and has gone 3-2 in his last 5 outings.