After a successful welterweight debut back in October, Hector Lombard’s next challenge will come against Jake Shields at UFC 171 in Dallas, Texas on March 15th.
Lombard took less than two minutes to knock out Nate Marquardt at UFC 166, showing a glimpse of the kind of form that took him on a remarkable 25 fight unbeaten stretch prior to joining the UFC where he then faltered with a 1-2 record at middleweight (albeit with both losses coming by split decision).
Shields is also enjoying a resurgence at 170lbs, having narrowly outpointed both Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia after an extremely short stay at 185lbs that ended badly when a win over Ed Herman was changed to a no-contest after he failed a post-fight drugs test.
Like Lombard, Shields had enjoyed a very successful MMA career prior to joining the UFC, going on a 15 fight winning streak, but hasn’t been able to reproduce that in the Octagon, going 4-2-1 so far.
Shields grinding, grappling heavy style isn’t too everybody’s liking, and indeed it appears that Lombard is among those who are less than enamoured with the way he fights, describing him as “boring.”
Nevertheless, Lombard was the one who appeared to initiate this fight being booked, telling MMAJunkie last week that it would be “a great test” for him.
UFC 171 will be headlined by a light-heavyweight title fight featuring current champion Jon Jones Vs Glover Teixeira, while Thiago Silva Vs Ovince St.Preux is another bout that’s already been lined up for the event.
