Fire up the hype train once again.
Hector Lombard destroyed Rousimar Palhares in the first round of their fight as part of the UFC on FX 6 card in Australia on Friday night (Saturday afternoon in Australia).
Lombard entered the UFC with much fanfare against Tim Boetsch earlier this year at UFC 149 but struggled in a split decision loss to “The Barbarian.”
His second dance in the Octagon was exactly what the fans had thought they would see the first time Lombard fought. We saw a composed fighter with technical strikes and an overpowering presence inside the cage.
The knockout artist dropped Palhares in front of his hometown fans of Australia. With the win, Lombard improves to 1-1 with the UFC and 32-3-1 overall in his career. Eighteen of those 32 wins have come by knockout, and judging from what we saw in Australia, Lombard looks poised to surge through the middleweight ranks.
The man Lombard knocked out, Palhares, has been fighting in the UFC since 2008. With the loss, Palhares drops to 6-4 within the organization and has lost two straight. Palhares doesn’t have any signature wins, with the closest one being a victory over Jeremy Horn at UFC 93.
This win was crucial to the longevity of Lombard’s career within the Octagon. Another loss would have further diminished the reputation and star power he came to the UFC with. Fans now see what a physical specimen and good technical fighter he can be.
His knockout power will always be Lombard’s bread and butter as he works his way up the middleweight ladder. Lombard approaches age 35 in February, so the time is now and he can’t afford to have many more losses if he wants to be considered a true contender for the title.
It’s safe to say the lethargic performance he gave us in July is now way back in the rearview mirror.
Joe Chacon is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a staff writer for Operation Sports. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com