UFC Middleweight bout: Hector Lombard vs. Tim Boetsch
Odds: (-360 Lombard / +270 Boetsch )
Betting Pick: Lombard
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In the semi-main event of the evening, Hector Lombard, long considered the top Middleweight in the world outside of the UFC, makes his Octagon debut against tough veteran Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch. Lombard, a former Olympic judoka and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, is currently riding a 24 fight unbeaten streak and has not lost since dropping a decision to Gegard Mousasi all the way back in 2006. Many expect that Lombard will be fast-tracked toward a shot at Anderson Silva’s Middleweight title assuming he can get past Boetsch, but Boetsch is a well-rounded and ultra-tough veteran who showed in his last fight against Yushin Okami that you can never count him out of a fight. If Lombard wants to cement himself as a major player in the Middleweight title scene he is going to have to keep the pressure on start to finish and not give Boetsch a chance to stage another come from behind shocker.
Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch is a very tough and versatile veteran who, in his last outing, mounted one of the more memorable comebacks in recent memory when he put away Yushin Okami near the end of their fight after being dominated for 2 and a half rounds. Boetsch has a great chin, very dangerous striking, and an underrated ground game. He isn’t among the best in the world at anything, but he doesn’t have many glaring holes, he puts it all together will, and his persistence and toughness allow him to hang in fights long enough to find his opening and pounce. Boetsch represents a good test for Lombard’s title readiness in that he can hang with anyone anywhere a fight goes and is dangerous enough offensively to expose any weaknesses Lombard might be concealing.
Hector Lombard, who holds black belts in both judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu and once represented Cuba on the Olympic judo team, is surprisingly more effective in the standup than he is on the ground. He does have very good takedowns and a punishing top control game, but on the feet he is a bulldozer with a huge amount of power in both hands. What makes Lombard so dangerous is that he can push forward constantly throwing huge punches and then just close up and clinch to control his opponents. He is hard to take down, much harder to keep down, and is a match in punching power for any Middleweight on the planet. Against Boetsch he will be the more powerful and technical fighter pretty much anywhere it goes, and his best strategy will be to keep the pressure on and not let Boetsch get settled in.
This is, in my opinion, a one-sided matchup. Not to take anything away from Boetsch, who is extremely tough and has a lot of tools, but Lombard is just on a different level. I don’t think Boetsch has a way to get Lombard down, and I don’t think he has a way to survive the howitzers Lombard throws on the feet. I think Lombard will fight aggressively and control the action early before overwhelming Boetsch with strikes for the T/KO.
Prediction: Hector Lombard by first round T/KO.
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