With the UFC’s welterweight division teeming with contenders, it’s a choose your own adventure within the top ten while Robbie Lawler–Johny Hendricks II plays out. And right now, Hector Lombard, who sits at No. 6 in the UFC’s media-driven rankings, has his eyes on UFC Fight Night 54, which takes place Oct. 4.
Lombard spoke to UFC Tonight’s Ariel Helwani, and said that he fancies taking on the winner of the Tarec Saffiedine–Rory MacDonald bout, which will be the main event in Halifax, Nova Scotia. MacDonald sits at No. 2 in the UFC rankings, while Saffiedine, who last fought at TK, sits at No. 10.
Lombard told Helwani that he suffered from a “pretty big-sized” cervical herniated disc which was pinching one of his nerves, but that he won’t need surgery. The American Top Team fighter, who was the long-standing middleweight champion in Bellator, is coming off a victory over Jake Shields at UFC 171 in March, which he dominated en-route to a unanimous decision. Before then, in his welterweight debut at UFC 166 in Houston, he need less than two minutes to score a TKO victory over Nate Marquardt.
Saffiedine has become a nearly forgotten man in the 170-pound weight class, with his lone appearance in the UFC happening in January, when he defeated Hyun Gyu Lim in Singapore. Still, the reigning Strikeforce champion has a chance to stake his claim atop the division with a win over the Canadian MacDonald, who has won back-to-back fights of his own. MacDonald’s last victory came against Tyron Woodley at UFC 174 in June, a fight he made his own from the opening bell.