...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Former Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard is making a move down to the welterweight division after losses in two of three fights since entering the UFC. Lombard revealed the move on Tuesday on a new episode of UFC Tonight on Fuel TV, and said he'd be interested in a fight with Nate Marquardt.
Lombard posted a 25-fight unbeaten streak over a five year period before ending his run in Bellator and entering the UFC. However, he had a poor performance against Tim Boetsch in his debut and lost a dull split decision. After a nice knockout win over Rousimar Palhares in December, he then fell short in Japan this March against Yushin Okami.
The drop down will mark his first time competing at 170 lbs., and if he gets booked against Marquardt it will mark two former middleweights competing at welterweight.
Marquardt's a former challenger for the UFC Middleweight Championship, as well as a former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion. However, he's lost his last two fights, the first time in his career he's dropped two straight. They both came in 2013, as Marquardt dropped a decision to Tarec Saffiedine on the final Strikeforce card, then got knocked out by Jake Ellenberger in March.
Penick's Analysis: Lombard vs. Marquardt would be a great fight at welterweight, and Lombard dropping down is the smart move for him at this stage. As he's always been a short, stocky middleweight, a drop down to 170 lbs. could help his skill set translate better at a high level. He's got tons of skills overall, and at 170 lbs. he might be able to implement that skill set more effectively.
[Hector Lombard photo (c) Henry Dziekan III]
(Attention MMATorch app users: Make sure to upgrade to the latest edition of the MMATorch app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android device!)
Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
