TEMECULA, Calif. – Welterweight Lorenz Larkin would much rather have been backstage warming up at Bellator 219 than watching others do the same.

Once scheduled as the headliner for Bellator 219, Larkin (20-7 MMA, 2-2 BMMA) saw a fight with ex-champ Andrey Koreshkov (22-3 MMA, 13-3 BMMA) slip through his fingers when a back injury interrupted his training camp.

The injury happened at the start of camp, so Larkin thought he could work his way through it. But when he failed to hit certain weight benchmarks, alarm bells sounded.

“My wind was good and my training was good, but the consistency of the training wasn’t going how I wanted it to go,” he told MMA Junkie at this past Friday’s event.

Larkin decided to contact Bellator officials to inform them of the situation. He asked the promotion for a 180-pound catchweight, so he could focus on training and not simply making weight with a bad back.

“And the opposing camp didn’t accept that,” he said. “I understand, but I don’t. I’ve been in this game for a while, so it’s not like I pulled some shady type (expletive), where two weeks before the fight, like, guess what guys? It’s going to be a catchweight.

“It was more than enough notice, and they didn’t accept the fight at (180 pounds). What can I do? It is what it is.”

Koreshkov kept the date for Bellator 219, but he instead faced off against Mike Jasper. He pitched a shutout on judges’ scorecards to get back in the win column after a submission loss in a rematch with ex-champ Douglas Lima in the opening round of the ongoing welterweight grand prix tournament.

Larkin still wants the fight down the road. And the feeling appears to be mutual for Koreshkov. It just might take a little longer than expected to get them in the cage together.

“Maybe late May, early June,” Larkin said. “I don’t know, but I’m feeling good. I get to enjoy my adult apple juice, and just enjoy the night. So it’s alright.”

For complete coverage of Bellator 219, visit the MMA Events section of the site.