Lorenz Larkin vs. Constantinos Philippou slated for UFC Fight Night 40 in Cincinnati
Two middleweights hope to rebound when they meet at UFC Fight Night 40 in Cincinnati.
Constantinos Philippou (12-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) and Lorenz Larkin (14-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC), who are both coming off recent losses in high-profile bouts, will meet at the event, UFC officials today announced.
UFC Fight Night 40 takes place May 10 at Cincinnati’s U.S. Bank Arena. The main card is expected to air on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on UFC Fight Pass. A headliner hasn’t been announced.
Philippou vs. Larkin will likely be part of the main card.
Philippou, who’s ranked No. 12 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, had won five straight UFC fights before a recent pair of setbacks. The 34-year-old New Yorker’s title hopes took a hit with a decision loss to Francis Carmont in September, which was followed by a TKO defeat to Luke Rockhold in January’s UFC Fight Night 35 headliner.
He now meets Larkin, who’s dropped two of three since his arrival in the UFC from Strikeforce, where he went 4-0 (with one no-contest). After a UFC-debut loss to Carmont (via controversial decision), the 27-year-old rebounded with a unanimous-decision victory over Chris Camozzi in October. But that led him to UFC Fight Night 35, where he Brad Tavares outpointed him in the night’s co-headliner earlier this year.
The latest UFC Fight Night 40 card now includes:
Daron Cruickshank vs. Erik Koch
Johnny Eduardo vs. Eddie Wineland
Lorenz Larkin vs. Constantinos Philippou
Justin Salas vs. Ben Wall
Ed Herman vs. Rafael Natal
Soa Palelei vs. Ruan Potts
Manny Gamburyan vs. Nik Lentz
Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Darrell Montague
Chris Cariaso vs. Louis Smolka
Yan Cabral vs. Alexander Yakovlev
