The Phantom Menace: What do we know about Hector Lombard?
Posted on July 18, 2012, 05:20 PM by Anton Gurevich
This weekend, Hector “Shango” Lombard will finally make his Octagon debut, facing Tim Boetsch in the co-main event action at UFC 149. At the age of 34, Hector Lombard has proved himself as one of the most dangerous 185’ers on the planet, with 17 KO/TKO and 7 Submission victories.
Lombard spent the majority of his career in Australia, before making a move to Bellator. The Cuban-Australian heavy hitter won the inaugural Bellator Middleweight Tournament with a victory over Jared Hess, and defended his title against Alexander Shlemenko. Lombard went 8-0 in Bellator, with 7 KO/TKO finishes.
Shango is still enigma to many MMA fans around the world. Other than Shlemenko, no one was really able to challenge Lombard in Bellator. Catchweight and Non-title affairs proved to be a waste of time for Lombard, who steamrolled through anything Bellator had to offer. At least on paper, Tim Boetsch has what it takes to become a real test for Hector Lombard in his first UFC experience.
Before he steps inside the Octagon, here are three of Hector Lombard’s fights in Bellator that could indicate on his chances to become a title contender in the UFC. Do you have more? Make sure to leave your suggestions in the comment section below.
Alexander Shlemenko
“Storm” Shlemenko was Hector Lombard’s toughest test in Bellator. The stubborn Russian is one of the most exciting Middleweights in Mixed Martial Arts today, with strong striking skills and constantly-improving wrestling skills. Shlemenko took the fight to Lombard, and was punished by the Cuban-Australian during the first 3 rounds. However, in the championship rounds, Shlemenko was clearly the better fighter, taking advantage of his opponent’s poor conditioning. Lombard was still able to take Shlemenko down at will, but the Siberian KO artist was way more aggressive on his feet. This fight showed that once Hector Lombard faces someone who can withstand his power, he gets frustrated, and struggles to dominate. Luckily for Lombard, he has TNT in his hands.
Jared Hess
Winning the inaugural Bellator Middleweight title was by far the biggest achievement in Hector Lombard’s career. Shango KO’d his way into the Bellator Middleweight Tournament finale bout with Jared Hess. Fresh off three consecutive KO victories in Round 1, Lombard was dragged into Round 4 by Hess, before the inevitable doctor stoppage due to cuts. Lombard is only 5ft 9in tall, while Hess is 6ft even, with a reasonable reach advantage. Lombard is smaller than majority of middleweights in the UFC, therefore it will be interesting to see if he will be able to physically dominate his opponents inside the Octagon, in the same way he did with Jared Hess.
Falaniko Vitale
Hector Lombard’s finish against Falaniko Vitale at Bellator 44 is without exaggeration one of the best knockouts I’ve seen in my life. While Falaniko Vitalo is far from being a Top 10 Middleweight, he’s an experienced fighter with a good record. Lombard dominated Vitale in the first two rounds, before finishing the fight with a thunderous right hook. Vitale was knocked out his feet, standing up and then falling again, in what was Lombard’s 16th KO/TKO finish. This is a perfect example of how dangerous Hector Lombard is on his feet. Similar to Anderson Silva, Lombard can finish the fight in any given moment.
Comments
tight ko
He unprovven same as all the other guys in these boats, we just wont know till they get into the UFC
ppl forget UFC is MMA not MMA is UFC and Bellator is the next best place and dont do this guy would be a great match with this guy it is 1 fights 2 ....2 fights 3 ...it is a tournament style organation and the champ from last tournament fight the new champ.... Eddie Alverez is or should of been ranked at least no.2 in the world at one point the guy was and is great if you havent seen the guy watch his fights not the fight he lost but see who the guy is he fought all around the world and in Bellator was just sick lost one fight.......Bellator has great fighter look at its roaster...just saying dont be a UFC fan but a MMA fan
I agree. He looks great with lots of promise. Lets see him burn through a few top contenders and maybe he can take the belt away from Weidman....oops, I mean Silva.
ok he is in the UFC has a fight with a top 5 competitor and has not just beat some guys some really great guys because they havent signed with UFC doesnt mean there not good enough alot were already signed with Bellator so is what it it is sorry for all u Bitch Champ Silva fans the guy has a great chance.... sorry was a fan til he denied the Chael fight then lost all together when he said he wants Rockhold over any of the UFC fighter sorry he is the Champ for Strikeforce but mean SIHHIITT!! when the guy is a c rated fighter and you have three guys that are in the running Bisping, Lombard,Wiedman.,,,and guys like Rashad that will come down.... he dodged Chael as long as he could and if Chael didnt over commit who knows but it is what it is...and we have a biitch made Champ hoping to dodge good fighters .....DAMN SUCKS...great champs take what ever is giving cause they are champ best of the best and can beat them all thats why they are CHAMP all they say is BRING IT (Edgar).... not he doesnt deserve it or I want the guy who fought like total shit Sat.... sorry but PHUCK SILVA no respect for the bitch NOW
periods are great
when ksooner uses CAPS, HE MEANS ****ING BUSINESS
How dare you make a joke insinuating Silva could lose to someone!!! WTF is wrong with you.
Not a lot, nothing greatly relative to how he will perform in the top levels of the UFC.
He has looked like a world beater in his super streak, especially in Bellator, but to be fair that wouldn't be a tall order for any top 10 UFC MW - considering Lombard has only faced two guys worth mentioning in 5 years (Shlemenko and Ebersole).
I'm actually a Lombard fan (except for the bullying claims) and think he will be a force at MW but being fair to guys who have paid their dues and fought top competition, there's not much to go on for stacking Lombard against the UFC MW elite.
if he blasts through boetsch i see him beating every one till he faces silva and then loses in the championship rounds through exhaustion.
No longer 'shango' he fights under 'lightning' ? boys your 6 months behind! Anyway will win by KO in the 1st 100% way to skillful for this guy.
Smaller than most MWs? Hector at 170 would be nightmarish. GSP better pray Shango doesn't drop down.
No
yea, i'm pretty sure that'd be a bad matchup.
How dare someone weak my "No" comment
hes black,,,that i know for shure
you white... that i know for sure
I really wanted to see a second fight against Alex, Dana should get The Storm into the UFC A.S.A.P. He would be a great addition. I doubt he could beat anybody in the top 5. If he doesn't connect and you can counter wrestling him, he'll gas within 2-3 rounds. If Hector can improve his conditioning he could do some damage.
From comments in this post, and ones about Anderson picking his fights, a lot of people seem to think Lombard is going to watch through Boetsch.
The Barbarian is a beast at 185. Just ask former #1 contender Okami.
woops "walk through Boetsch"
Really? Someone gave my correction a "weak"? That's so sad, it's kind of funny.
Tim Boetsch is the toughest guy Lombard has ever faced, and it's not close. He is coming off a win against a top 5 guy in Okami. Lombard, on the other hand has only ever faced one arguably ranked in the top 20...and he lost. He may have more fights on his record, but he is a UFC rookie facing a guy who is going into his 10th UFC fight. The experience advantage goes to Boetsch for that reason.
Boetsch is sloppy and was loosing against Okami until he went all berserker. I see Hector getting the ko.
Replace "Boetsch" with Silva and "Okami" with Sonnen, and your statement still makes sense.
Hector is a huge , although short,middleweight, i don't think he would drop down to 170
Correct. He's heavily muscled. Dropping to 170 would be detrimental to his overall health and game.
In fact, if you remove his muscle or at least 90% of it, then he's just a Flyweight walking around.
the beserker is coming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRbhNQUZYh0