Hector Lombard made his much anticipated return to the octagon at UFC Brisbane after a 12 month lay off but things didn’t go quite as planned.
Lombard, who started the fight fast and aggressive soon found himself on the end of a stoppage from rising star Neil Magny, the first time Lombard has ever been finished in his long career.
The fight was enough for the 38 year old to re-consider weight classes, announcing via his Instagram earlier in the week that he would that he would be moving back up to middleweight (185lbs/83kg). Lombard explained that his body could just not perform at welterweight (170lbs/77kg) with a lack of IV rehydration playing a major part.
Lombard had a successful run of wins, including a Bellator title, at middleweight and will be a force to be reckoned with in the weight class when he returns from medial suspension.
The Cuban/Australian is facing up to a six-month medial suspension following the beating he sustained from Magny – 180 days or cleared with a head CT scan; 45 days no fight, 30 days no contact.
