Last night, the Zuffa boys made a much anticipated return to Australia for UFC on FX 6. Hosting a pair of tournament finals for The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes, there was an animosity between British and Australian fighters, which was documented thro…
Last night, the Zuffa boys made a much anticipated return to Australia for UFC on FX 6. Hosting a pair of tournament finals for The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes, there was an animosity between British and Australian fighters, which was documented through the airing of the reality program.
The card featured major knockouts as well as some barn-burning action from undercard fighters who were desperate to show Dana White that they are worthy of their roster spot. On the main card, Hector Lombard and Ross Pearson hammered their opponents to earn wins in the featured contests of the night.
Here is a look at what’s next for the winners and losers of every fight on the card.
UFC on FX 6 took place on Friday night from Australia’s Gold Coast. And while the focus of the night from a PR perspective may have been the crowning of two new winners of The Ultimate Fighter and the headlining bout between the opposing coaches,…
UFC on FX 6 took place on Friday night from Australia’s Gold Coast. And while the focus of the night from a PR perspective may have been the crowning of two new winners of The Ultimate Fighter and the headlining bout between the opposing coaches, the fan focus was clearly on the middleweight contest between Hector Lombard and RousimarPalhares.
Calm, cool and collected are three words that have never been used to describe the two aforementioned fighters. And hopes were high that fans would see something fairly spectacular go down when the cage door locked behind Lombard and Palhares.
The fight started off slow, but those hoping for some lovely violence were rewarded when Lombard put Palhares down and out with his heavy hands.
Just in case you were wondering who Lombard wanted to face next, he made it pretty clear that he is very interested in seeing Michael Bisping across the Octagon in the very near future.
Not to be outdone, main-eventer Ross Pearson put his opponent, George Sotiropolous, to the ground three times in total, with the last time bringing the referee in to wave off the fight.
The name recognition on Friday night’s card may not have been the highest, but overall, it was a pretty solid event. And hey, who doesn’t like a knockout or two?
The first season of The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes was wrapped up on Friday night at UFC on FX 6, where coaches Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos scrapped in the main event and the winners of the show’s two tournaments were crowned on the main card.L…
The first season of The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes was wrapped up on Friday night at UFC on FX 6, where coaches Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos scrapped in the main event and the winners of the show’s two tournaments were crowned on the main card.
Lightweight Norman Parke became the first-ever champion of the new version of the UFC’s reality series with a win over Colin Fletcher.
Following that bout, Robert Whittaker won the season’s welterweight tournament by beating Brad Scott.
Now, it is time for Parke and Whittaker to represent The Ultimate Fighter by working their way up the ladder in their respective divisions.
Let’s take a look at who could be next for the reality-show winners and the rest of the competitors on UFC on FX 6.
Regardless or whether or not Hector Lombard gets a mulligan for what went down at UFC 149 against Tim Boestch, the real Lombard showed up against Rousimar Palhares at UFC on FX 6. Question Palhares’ striking at will, but don’t discredit how …
Regardless or whether or not Hector Lombard gets a mulligan for what went down at UFC 149 against Tim Boestch, the real Lombard showed up against RousimarPalhares at UFC on FX 6. Question Palhares‘ striking at will, but don’t discredit how Lombard exposed the lone dimension of Palhares‘ game.
Ironically, the first minute saw a patient Lombard trade kicks in spurts with Palhares, who clearly desired to break down Lombard’s legs before trying to hook his heel or lock his legs up.
Palhares made it clear that he intended to keep up that strategy throughout the opening minute and barely missed a right hand of his own in the process.
Once the fight reached that 90-second mark, something re-lit Lombard’s fire, and it made Palhares pay for trying to go after his legs. After the 90-second mark, Lombard began to find the mark more consistently, knocking down Palhares twice.
The first time Lombard landed, he deflected the agony of one of Palhares‘ kicks and knocked him down but allowed him to return to a vertical stance before sticking his right hand. The second landing saw Lombard plant a firm left hand on Palhares, this time not letting him back up until he sensed that he would risk playing Palhares‘ game by going in for the kill.
Once Lombard allowed him back up the second time, Lombard lived up to his “Lightning” nickname and brought a thunderstorm of heavy blows to the anatomy of Palhares before the referee finally stepped in.
Re-watch that performance if any doubts still exists as to how one knockout of Palhares, a grappler with subpar striking at best, means that Lombard has returned to fighting form.
After another glance, one will see how Lombard returns to the form he never lost.
Simply put, Lombard finds ways to make tough fighters appear as though they can’t even jab properly, and on the strength of this win, Lombard knows that if he still wants the UFC middleweight title, he must continue to make great fighters look amateur in all realms, no matter how ugly the fights become.
It took Hector Lombard less than four minutes to vanquish Rousimar Palhares in a first-round TKO at UFC on FX 6 on Friday night, thus redeeming his lacklustre UFC debut in July. The former Bellator middleweight champion’s first and only request a…
It took Hector Lombard less than four minutes to vanquish RousimarPalhares in a first-round TKO at UFC on FX 6 on Friday night, thus redeeming his lacklustre UFC debut in July.
The former Bellator middleweight champion’s first and only request after the fight was to call out Michael Bisping.
In a post-fight interview, when asked whom he’d like to face next, Lombard replied:
Bisping, please. Where is he? I want a piece of him. I don’t want to talk, let’s just sort it in the cage. Me and him.
That request hasn’t come out of nowhere either. Tension has been building between the loud-mouthed Brit and the Cuban-Australian middleweight ever since Lombard signed with the UFC.
That tension surrounds Bisping’a anxiety over being skipped over for a title shot.
The British middleweight has been fighting in the UFC for more than six-and-a-half years and has never been offered a chance to fight for the belt. Lombard, on the other hand, after going undefeated in 25 fights, was brought into the promotion with many expecting him to be fast-tracked to face current 185-pound champion, Anderson Silva.
Unsurprisingly, this did not sit well with Bisping.
Back in July he told the MMA Hour (H/T MMA Mania) that he would be “massively p***** off” if Lombard got to face Silva instead of him.
“I will be honest, I have never seen the guy fight once because I’ve never seen Bellator, I don’t watch it, I have no interest,” he said of the former Bellator champ. “By all accounts he’s an aggressive fighter and he knocks people out, but I have never seen him fight. He could be the best thing since sliced bread, I don’t’ know. But what I do know is that he has never fought in the UFC, so why the f*** is he getting a title shot?”
His verbal assault on Lombard didn’t end there. During a pre-UFC 149 Q&A, Bisping recounted the time when he met Lombard in an elevator (H/T MMA Fighting).
“I thought somebody was playing a practical joke,” said Bisping of his meeting. “I was like, who is this little poison dwarf? He’s about this big. I mean come on, seriously? Seriously? This is the guy with all the hype? I think he’s in the wrong weight class. There’s a 125 weight class I think he should be in that. He obviously didn’t get enough sleep as a kid or his mum was smoking because he’s growth has been majorly stunted.”
For the most part Lombard has kept quiet, but more recently has become more vocal in his disdain for Bisping. In an interview with MMA Junkie before his fight against Palhares he called Bisping a “douchebag.” He also recounted his own version of the meeting with Bisping in an elevator, telling MMA Junkie:
“I actually saw him at the elevator, and Michael Bisping has got the smallest hands I’ve ever seen in my life. He says I’m a midget. OK. Fair enough. But I squeeze his hand – I didn‘t want to shake his hand, but I said, I don’t want to leave you like that because I have a little bit of education – and he was about to cry, so I let it go.”
Lombard’s emphatic victory against Palhares sets his career back on track to be considered a serious contender at 185 pounds and well worthy of a match against Bisping, who himself is coming off a significant win against Brian Stann.
And Lombard is itching to get back in the cage and take on “The Count”.
“He bothers me,” said Lombard of Bisping. “I hope the UFC give me the opportunity. But I want to fight him maybe in the next couple of months. I’m healthy, I don’t have any injuries so I’m ready.”
There’s only one problem. Bisping is due to fight VitorBelfort at UFC on FX 7 in Brazil. And with the little regard that Bisping has shown Lombard, there’s no indication the Brit would consider Lombard a worthy opponent, even after the Palhares win.
But Lombard has already said that he’d be willing to step in against Bisping in January, a little over four weeks away, should Belfort get injured.
He told MMA Junkie that he would gladly “jump in” to replace Belfort if he had to.
“I would love to fight Michael Bisping – he’s said a lot of things about me lately and I want to settle it in the Octagon,” said Lombard.
Whatever Bisping thinks of Lombard, this would be a great matchup. Lombard has fully made up for his poor performance against Tim Boetsch in July and looks every bit a serious threat at 185 pounds.
What’s more, the personal animosity brewing between him and Bisping would make an encounter between the two far more satisfying than a match between Bisping and Belfort.
Of course the ink is now dry on the Bisping/Belfort contract and the match is just around the corner, so Lombard is unlikely to get his wish any time soon. But as we know, anything can happen in the sport of MMA.
UFC on FX 6 saw the close of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes. Coaches Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos faced off in the main event of the evening in what would turn into one of the most dominant performances of Pearson’s career. He used vari…
UFC on FX 6 saw the close of The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes.
Coaches Ross Pearson and George Sotiropoulos faced off in the main event of the evening in what would turn into one of the most dominant performances of Pearson’s career. He used various combinations to land clean shots to Sotiropoulos‘ head and body.
Speaking of Sotiropoulos, with those three knockdowns, it may be time to start thinking of retirement. He’s looking more like Glass Joe from Punch Out every time that he enters the Octagon.
The lightweight and welterweight finals provided some quality action. And Hector Lombard finally justified his pay check with a first-round stoppage of RousimarPalhares.
Regardless or whether or not