(Alas, it appears that the joyous age of ice cream cake and tomato cans has come and gone.)
Since entering the UFC almost a year ago to the day and bringing with him an unprecedented amount of hype (and one hefty price tag to boot), former Bellator middleweight kingpin Hector Lombard has been through some pretty tough times. After seeing his 25-fight win streak snapped via boredom in his UFC debut, Lombard scored a rebound TKO victory over Rousimar Palhares before succumbing to the patented grapplefuckery of Yushin Okami at UFC on FUEL 8.
And although Dana White is not ready to label Lombard a bust just yet — and rightfully so, for Okami can and has grapplefucked the best of ‘em — it’s become quite apparent that Lombard isn’t quite the eater of worlds that he was made out to be in Bellator. Then again, when you’re paired up against guys like Trevor Prangley and “Whisper” Goodman, it’s hard not to build such a reputation. In either case, it appears that Lombard has realized that at just 5’8″, perhaps the middleweight division isn’t where he belongs anymore.
That being the case, Lombard told UFC Tonight yesterday that he plans on working with renowned dietician Mike Dolce in an attempt to make the cut to 170 lbs following his upcoming nose surgery. Ariel Helwani broke the news:
I spoke to Lombard today and he’s about to work with Mike (Dolce) because he wants to get leaner. He walks around at 205 and he feels that at his height, it’s not really at his best interest to be fighting at 185. He knows the UFC wants him to go down … First thing’s first, he needs to have nose surgery. He broke his nose fighting Yushin Okami so the surgery is coming up next for him — hopefully next week. After that, he’s going to focus on that cut down to 170.
So, Potato Nation, in what fashion will this career-saving weight cut end: Good, bad, or ugly?