Neil Magny and Hector Lombard will collide this Saturday (March 19, 2016) at UFC Fight Night 85 inside Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Australia. In a match up of technician and destroyer, what adjustments must be made for either man to claim victory? Find out below!
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight contenders Neil Magny and Hector Lombard will go to war this Saturday (March 19, 2016) at UFC Fight Night 85 inside Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Australia.
Magny is one of the most active and consistently successful fighters in UFC. In the last two years, he’s won nine of 10 fights and continues to improve with each performance, making him a legitimate threat to the title.
On the other hand, Lombard has been very hot and cold. He’s either destroying opponents in mere minutes, or “Showeather” is changing his nickname, fighting tepidly, and popping for steroids. Obviously, Lombard would prefer more of the former, and he’s hoping for a big win following his suspension.
Let’s take a look at the keys to victory for both men:
Neil Magny
Record: 15-4
Key Wins: Kelvin Gastelum (UFC Fight Night 78), Hyun Gyu Lim (UFC Fight Night 66), Tim Means (UFC Fight Night 40)
Key Losses: Demian Maia (UFC 190), Sergio Moraes (UFC 163)
Keys to Victory: Magny is a lanky fighter with great conditioning, and he takes full advantage of both those traits. Magny specializes at working from long range with combinations and a high-volume of strikes, but he also likes to wear down his opponent in the clinch and on the mat.
Either way, Magny’s high level of activity has helped him finish eight of his past opponents.
In this bout, Magny needs to fully realize his reach advantage and stick to his boxing. Lombard may be a terrifying puncher, but he’s also known to shell up and wait around, leaving him vulnerable to being out-landed by Magny.
Basically, there’s no benefit for Magny to be in close with “Lightning.” Besides an increased chance of eating Lombard’s power shots, Magny cannot rely on his clinch game due to Lombard’s extensive Judo background.
Therefore, Magny’s avenue to success lies in striking from the outside. If he can keep a high pace and avoid getting wobbled, Magny should have little trouble staying ahead on the scorecards and tiring his opponent out.
It only gets easier as the fight wears on.
VS.
Hector Lombard
Record: 33-4-1 (2)
Key Wins: Jake Shields (UFC 171), Nate Marquardt (UFC 166), Rousimar Palhares (UFC on FX 6)
Key Losses: Tim Boestch (UFC 149), Yushin Okami (UFC on Fuel TV 8)
Keys to Victory: Lombard is an incredibly explosive athlete. He carries massive power in both hands and shows incredible strength in grappling exchanges, making him a difficult man to deal with.
It’s no mistake that Lombard has scored 19 victories via knockout.
In this bout, it’s important that Lombard doesn’t waste any time and pulls the trigger. When allowed to fight at his own pace and lead the dance, Magny is a pretty difficult fighter to hit cleanly. However, Kelvin Gastelum showed in Magny’s last fight that the lanky fighter is more hittable when under heavy pressure.
Lombard has the power and takedown defense to swarm Magny early. Since Magny doesn’t have the one-shot power or raw takedown ability to deter Lombard, there’s nothing in his game to really prevent Lombard from simply trying to maul him from the get-go.
If Lombard doesn’t open this fight quickly, it’s a mistake. He needs an early finish, as out-pointing Magny will be rather difficult due to his range and volume. The longer Lombard waits to attack, the deeper the hole that he has to dig out from.
Bottom Line: This is an important bout for the Welterweight division’s title mix.
Magny has risen to the top of the division in a fairly unique manner and established himself as one of the division’s best. That said, he still doesn’t have the one major victory that could place him in a title eliminator. Lombard could be that victory, and it’s one he needs to standout in a division like Welterweight.
On the other hand, a loss does set Magny back quite a bit. His win over Gastelum gave him a fair bit of momentum, but a loss would cut that wave short. That said, Magny could quickly rebuild thanks to how often he fights.
This is something of a do-or-die fight for Lombard. Following his suspension, he really needs to return with a big victory to remind people of how terrifying he can be. In that case, Lombard could find himself right back in the hunt for the title.
A loss would devastate Lombard’s title hopes. Lombard is now 38 years old, and the pressure is on. Considering his high pay and the ugliness of his recent drug test failure, UFC may reconsider keeping Lombard on the roster if he’s unable to deliver some brutal knockouts.
At UFC Fight Night 85, Neil Magny and Hector Lombard will battle in the co-main event. Which fighter will have his hand raised?