After brutally stopping Nate Marquardt in the first round with strikes at UFC 166, the former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard gets his toughest welterweight assignment to date when he takes on Jake Shields at UFC 171, according to a report from ESPN.
That bout and event is set for March 15th at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Lombard, 35, made his welterweight debut in October opposite Marquardt, the former Strikeforce welterweight champion. The Cuban-born judoka stopped Marquardt just 1:48 in the first frame due to strikes. The bout with Shields is his second in the division after a career spent at middleweight in organizations just as Bellator, EliteXC, PRIDE and others. His professional record stands at 33-4-1 and 1 no-contest.
Shields, 34, last competed at UFC Fight Night 29 where he earned a unanimous decision victory over Demian Maia. The win is Shields’ second in a row at welterweight after a brief jump to middleweight. His record stands at 29-6-1 with 1 no-contest.
UFC 171 is set to be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and challenger Glover Teixeira.