If you thought Hector Lombard was going to lose any power with his weight cut down to 170 pounds, well, think again.
The former Bellator middleweight champion put on by far the most impressive performance of his UFC stint on Saturday night at UFC 166. The fighter known as “Lightning” scored a swift and brutal finish of veteran Nate Marquardt at Houston’s Toyota Center.
Lombard took charge from the outset and didn’t take long to make Marquardt backpedal. He landed a left hand, a right to the top of the head, and a left to the jaw which dropped him to the mat. A series of hammer fists to the grounded Marquardt finished the job.
The time was 1:48 of the first round.
Lombard lost two of his three bouts at middleweight in the UFC, and only grudgingly accepted the UFC’s suggestion that he drop down to 170, after the bout, though, Lombard said it was the right move.
“I think Joe Silva and the UFC crew, they were right on my cutting down to 170,” Lombard said. “I was the one that was wrong and they were the ones that were right.”
Lombard improved to 33-4-1 (1 NC) in his career. Marquardt, the former Strikeforce and Pancrase champ, dropped to 32-13-2 and has lost three consecutive bouts, all via finish.