A middleweight bout between Francis Carmont and Lorenz Larkin has been added to the UFC on Fox 7 card. It is a card that is really starting to shape up as a Strikeforce vs. UFC event. The card is headlined by the Lightweight championship unification bout between UFC champ Benson Henderson squaring off against Strikeforce champ Gilbert Melendez. The main card has the makings of being one of the best so far this year with other Strikeforce incumbents Daniel Cormier and Josh Thomson also appearing on the card.

The newly announced Carmont vs. Larkin matchup is an intriguing one to say the least.  Both fighters are on the verge of breaking through as top talents in their respected weight class. Carmont is currently riding a nine fight win streak; his last win came at UFC 154 against Tom Lawlor. It was a decidedly step up in talent for Carmont and he was able to scrape out a close split decision victory. This will be his fifth fight in the UFC.

While Larkin, a longtime Light Heavyweight, will be making just his second appearance as a middleweight, his first fight was at the final Strikeforce event where he defeated Robbie Lawler via unanimous decision. Larkin’s record is a clean 13-0, he was able to keep his record unblemished after the NSAC overturned his loss to Muhammed Luwal to a No Contest after Luwal failed his post-fight drug test. This will be the first time that Larkin will step into the cage under the UFC banner.

The style of the fight is the classic striker vs grappler match-up. Larkin has the edge in the striking game 8 of his 13 wins have come by way KO/TKO. Carmont, a submission specialist, will want to take this fight to the ground as quickly as possible since most of his victories have come by submission.  Larkin will need to respect the striking ability of Carmont as he does have 6 victories by KO/TKO.

This card looks very strong, and the addition of Carmont vs. Larkin only solidifies that fact.

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