Thus far, Hector Lombard has not served as a great testament to the quality of fighters in Bellator.
A dominant middleweight in the number two mixed martial arts group, Lombard has been nothing if not unremarkable since making the jump to UFC’s Octagon.
And if his 1-2 UFC record were not disappointing enough, his lifeless performance in those two losses further called into question the quality of his pre-UFC accomplishments. He simply did not look like the killer from Bellator, and ahead of his UFC 166 bout, he had simply given no reason for fans to accept him as an elite fighter.
But Saturday’s fight came with one variable: a move down to the 170 pound welterweight division. Known as being excessively muscular but notably short for a Middleweight, the move to 170–if possible to do without losing too much muscle–was an intriguing one. And positioned against Nate Marquardt, another one-time Middleweight prospect who ultimately felt the Welterweight Division was more compelling, Lombard would have the chance to rebuild himself in a new division.
Rebuild himself he did. Lombard looked like the Lombard of old–but at a new weight–with a dominant knockout win in less than two minutes. His post-fight promo left a lot to be desired, but from a pure performance standpoint, Lombard got himself noticed at UFC 166.
— It was not as marquee as the Marquardt-Lombard fight, but the main event between CB Dollaway and Tim Boetsch definitely delivered action–and controversy. After getting off to a dominant start in the first round, Dollaway lost his advantage for the subsequent two rounds.
The result was a very competitive fight; or, at least, one that appeared competitive. Two judges felt Boetsch dominated all three rounds (yes, even the first round, in which the clearly dominant Dollaway was toying with Boetsch), which meant that he took the split decision. And because those two judges gave Boetsch the 30-27 win, the fact that Dollaway was docked a point for an accidental eyepoke proved moot.
Other UFC 166 preliminary results follow:
Tim Boetsch def. CB Dollaway via split decision (30-26, 27-29, 30-26)
Hector Lombard def. Nate Marquardt via KO (punches) – 1:48 of Round 1
Jessica Eye def. Sarah Kaufman via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
K.J. Noons def. George Sotiropoulos via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Adlan Amagov def. T.J. Waldburger via KO (punches) – 3:45 of Round 3
Tony Ferguson def. Mike Rio via submission (D’Arce) – 1:52 of Round 1
Andre Fili def. Jeremy Larsen via TKO (punches) – :53 of Round 2
Kyoji Horiguchi def. Dustin Pague via TKO (punches) – 3:51 of Round 2