Bellator 193 : Larkin vs. Gonzales- January 26 (OFFICIAL DISCUSSION)

Bellator 193
January 26, 2018
Pechanga Resort & Casino
Temecula, California, USA

Main Card:
Lorenz Larkin (18-7)     vs.  (27-14) Fernando Gonzalez   
Main Event | Catchweight | 180 lbs (82 kg)
Saad Awad (21-9)         vs.              (29-7) JJ Ambrose   
Co-Main Event | Lightweight | 155 lbs (70 kg)
Kendall Grove (23-17)    vs.             (8-7) AJ Matthews  
Main Card | Middleweight | 185 lbs (84 kg)
Steve Kozola (8-1)          vs.              (6-2) Jake Smith  
Main Card | Lightweight | 155 lbs (70 kg)

Bellator returns to Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif. for Bellator 193 on Friday, Jan. 26, 2018. The card will be headlined by Riverside, California-native Lorenz Larkin (18-7, 1 NC) against Menifee, California's Fernando Gonzalez (27-14) in a 180-pound catchweight bout.
 
Larkin enters his main event matchup against Gonzalez following must-see bouts against Douglas Lima and Paul Daley in 2017. Now, "Da Monsoon" looks to add to his impressive resume – which includes marquee wins over Robbie Lawler, Santiago Ponzinibbio, Jorge Masvidal and Neil Magny and stoppages in 11 out of 18 victories – by adding the name of a competitor that has nearly 50-fights as a professional. A short trek from Larkin's hometown of Riverside, Calif. the Millenia MMA-product will represent his nearby hometown proudly on Jan. 26.
 
Hailing from Menifee, Calif., 33-year-old Fernando Gonzalez will enter the Bellator cage for the ninth time in his nearly 15-year professional career. Gonzalez has seen a great deal of success since joining forces with Bellator MMA, having collected seven victories over an eight-fight, four-year span. Gonzalez has come on strong as of late, tallying 10 wins over his last 13 bouts, including a pair of first round knockouts. With 17 of his 27 career victories coming by way of knockout

John McCarthy is a great expert commentator.

He's been there since day 1, and I heard he was even suppose to fight in the first UFC. I remember him from the first UFC video game, he was in it as a boxer-wrestler. So, I always assumed John McCarthy has a real martial arts fighting background, as far as the technical side of things.

Being that he's the GOAT ref, objectivity shouldn't really be a problem, either.

Even Goldberg is okay on Bellator in some sense. I guess that the logic behind his hiring was that he has a ton of experience broadcasting MMA fights, and that this is a pretty specialized skill.

With respect to Goldberg, I randomly saw him on a Q/A one time years back. In one question, a guy asked him for advice on pursuing a broadcasting career, and he just spoke with a lot of candor, and just said 'no work is bad work', study as much as you can; when you think you've read enough articles, read 2 more; stuff like that. So he's actually an intelligent guy. He might be doing some stuff behind the scenes, also, for all I know.

I find him at least more tolerable in his new position.

UFC commentary is a complete and absolute joke. Was that Uriah Faber on the last Fox broadcast? I don't even know, but I know they've used Faber some. I remember someone posting an interview of Faber on an MMA forum a long time ago, and someone commented that "he talks like the California sun has baked his brain."