Hector Lombard ready for Tim Boetsch at UFC 149, wants "complainer" Michael Bisping next

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Hector Lombard was set to make a splash in his UFC debut this summer. His headlining fight at UFC on Fox 4 in August against Brian Stann would have been an opportunity to earn a title shot in the UFC's middleweight division, but he may now be facing a longer road to that opportunity with the shakeups that came on Wednesday.

With Stann injuring his shoulder, Lombard lost his headlining fight on the Fox card; then, when Michael Bisping was forced out of his bout with Tim Boetsch at UFC 149, Lombard was moved to that event in Calgary next month.

It was a disappointing turn of events, for sure, but he's seeing this change as an opportunity to make a few statements. First up is Boetsch; then, he'd like to take out Bisping, who openly criticized talk that Lombard would get a title shot after one fight.

"There are complainers out there, like Bisping," Lombard said on Thursday in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "He's not happy that I'm getting the title shot. So I need to fight all these complainers first."

"[Bisping] went ahead and he started talking bad about me on the Internet that I would get a title shot. Stuff like that bothers me. I never talk bad about any fighter. He had his chances before, and he lost the fights. They've been giving him a lot of opportunities, and he loses the fights."

Lombard thinks the rash of injuries hitting the UFC recently is "crazy," but even though he's got a new opponent for his debut, he's ready to show what he can do to the UFC's audience.

"I'm a complete fighter," Lombard said. "I can fight any style. I can adjust really quick to any fighter. I'm disappointed about it. But at the end of the day, as long as I can fight, I'm happy. I need to adjust a couple of things, but that's part of the job."

Penick's Analysis: Lombard-Boetsch is still a really great fight in the middleweight division. Boetsch has been very successful since moving to the middleweight division, and he's entering this matchup off a third round knockout of the last title challenger in the division in Yushin Okami. Lombard can make a big splash if he can come in and win that fight. That matchup may not get him the next title shot, but a matchup with Bisping afterward could be just the type of fight he needs to get into that spot.

[Hector Lombard photo (c) Henry Dziekan III]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_13545.shtml

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