By Andreas Vou
CYPRIOT MMA fighter Costas Philippou is set to take on Lorenz Larkin on Saturday night in UFC Fight Night 40 at Cincinnati’s US Bank Arena.
The 34-year-old is currently ranked No.12 in the MMA middleweight rankings and had gone on a five fight winning streak prior to his two latest defeats.
The Limassol-native suffered a major setback to his title aspirations after his September defeat to Francis Carmont, followed up by another loss to Luke Rockhold in January’s UFC Fight Night 35 headliner.
Philippou takes on 27-year-old Larkin who has not had the best times of late either, having lost two of his three latest bouts since joining the UFC.
In October, he earned his first and only UFC victory in an impressive decision win against Chris Camozzi but that was sandwiched by two disappointing losses.
His first defeat came on his UFC debut; as did Philippou, Larkin found Carmont too tough to stop while he then tasted defeat at the hands of Brad Tavares in January during UFC Fight Night 35.
Both fighters have all the more reason to be motivated as they look to get back to winning ways but Philippou is the slight favourite with his added experience.
Based in the United States, UFC is the most esteemed mixed martial arts organisation in the world, home to the elite fighters in the industry with each headlining event averaging in the region of four million television viewers.
Philippou’s road to the very top has been anything but easy, leaving Cyprus shortly after meeting his coach and mentor Polis Potamitis in 1996, who bought him a ticket to travel to New York to pursue a pro career.
The Cypriot soon faced his toughest bout, coping with tragedy. In September 2005, his coach who had become his best friend was shot and killed on the island, leaving Philippou in a dire psychological state.
He showed immense character to pick himself up and eventually began climbing the ladder towards the top, eventually quitting boxing in favour of MMA in 2007.
In May 2008, Philippou made his professional MMA debut, becoming the first ever Cypriot to do so when he competed for the ‘Ring of Combat’ promotion fight. Despite losing by a split decision on that occasion, he went on to win seven times and lost just once, earning promotion at the next time of asking.
The Limassol star joined UFC in 2011 and, despite losing his first fight, bounced back, again, in the best possible way, winning his next five matches in a run which stretched from August 2011 to December 2012.
Philippou has demonstrated formidable character by picking himself in times of adversity throughout his career. Despite his last two defeats, the Cypriot fighter is once again looking to bounce back.
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