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Will Hector Lombard be cut from the UFC?

Roar Guru
5th March, 2013
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Roar Guru
5th March, 2013
17
1497 Reads

Hector Lombard’s short and disappointing stint in the UFC may well be coming to an end.

Losing to Japanese veteran Yushin Okami over the weekend, he received his second loss in three bouts.

The Cuban-born Australian was once deemed the great white indie hope, but after two losses to top ten competitors, leaving him teetering on the edge of the official UFC middleweight rankings, he may well become the next high profile fighter cut, as the UFC seeks to bring its roster budget under control.

Last year, when Hector Lombard was first signed by the UFC, the buzz around him was palpable. He was the man on a twenty-seven fight win streak, who had knocked out all comers and just maybe he was the one to finally best Anderson Silva at his own striking game.

In Australia hopes were even higher that he might be on the fast road to becoming our first ever UFC champion.

However, after racking up a 1-2 record on the sport’s biggest stage, it is clear those hopes were misplaced and if Lombard fails to perform, and perform fast, he will quickly find himself cut from the oversized UFC roster.

He may have already fought for the UFC for last time.

Don’t get me wrong, Lombard is better than the majority of guys at middleweight, but with the sacking of former welterweight top contender Jon Fitch, UFC President Dana White has made it clear he isn’t going to keep overpaid mid-tier guys around for too long.

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And there is no doubt now that Lombard is overpaid.

While figures aren’t public, it is clear the UFC had to pay big money to beat a cashed up Bellator to get Lombard’s signature. Bellator President Bjorn Rebney has suggested it was as high as a $400,000 signing bonus and $300,000 per fight.

The UFC signed him in the hope of building a super-fight with Anderson Silva, but those dreams are now long gone and Lombard will most likely be stuck fighting early on the main card or even relegated to the prelims.

Theoretically he could stay and beat up guys like Rousimar Palhares for years, he practically made career out of doing it in indie circles, but on that kind of money you have to be a title holder or perennial challenger, anything else and you just aren’t worth it.

Even if he is getting paid just half of the reported sum, it is far more than the supposedly ‘super expensive’ Jon Fitch, who was cut last week.

Fitch has a very strong history, boasting just three losses over seven years, but after netting only one win and a draw from his last four fights, the UFC deemed him on the skid and let him go to help combat the vast over stocking of their roster.

In an ominous sign for Lombard, White says there is plenty of blood yet to be spilled, suggesting the UFC has one hundred excess fighters, all who will receive an unwelcome call in the coming months.

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If Lombard gets another shot in the Octagon, there is absolutely no way he can continue to let his opponents set a slow, plodding pace as he allowed Okami to do last weekend and as Tim Boetsch did in his debut fight.

Lombard is at his best when he is being aggressive and searching for the knockout, he is a fighter fans should love to watch but in his two biggest fights, he seemed to catch stage fright.

If Lombard wants to keep his job, he has to fight his natural game.

An even more extreme measure may be a drop down a weight division to welterweight. While stocky, he is one of the shortest middleweights on the roster and he doesn’t seem to have trouble meeting the 185 pound mark.

Even though it is a move he has previously rejected, desperate times call for desperate measures, and if he could shed just a little extra bulk, his power would be a truly scary proposition at 170 lbs.

Regardless of which one he chooses, it is clear if Hector Lombard wants to remain in the UFC, he must start to live up to the lofty expectations he set himself when he first signed for them.

It would be sad to see such an exciting fighter leave, but at this point it is clear he has not come close to earning his spot on the UFC roster.

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