UFC 171 Date: March 15, 2014 Arena: American Airlines Center City: Dallas, TX Welterweight bout: Hector “Lightning” Lombard (-195) vs Jake Shields (+160) Fight Breakdown: The main card for UFC 171 on Pay Per View will feature a welterweight bout that will surely put the victor one more win away from title contention. It will be a battle between a pair of former champions, when former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields takes on former Bellator middleweight champion Hector “Lightning” Lombard. The Cuban is currently the favorite in this bout at -195 ($195 to win $100), while Shields is the underdog at +160 ($100 to win $160) at Several Bookmakerss. HECTOR “LIGHTNING” LOMBARD (33-4-1-1 NC MMA, 2-2 UFC) is coming off a very impressive first round knockout win over veteran Nate “The Great” Marquardt at UFC 166 nearly five months ago. That marked his debut in the welterweight division and now, the former Bellator middleweight champion looks to go 2-0 at 170 pounds and he has his sights on the recently vacated welterweight gold. The Cuban went on a very impressive 31-2 run in the middleweight division, before signing a UFC contract. He was upset by Tim Boetsch via controversial split decision in his long-awaited promotional debut. He followed that sour loss with a knockout victory over current WSOF welterweight Rousimar Palhares, then followed that with a very close split decision loss to current WSOF middleweight Yushin Okami, in a fight where he nearly finished the Japanese grappler. Being the definition of a mixed martial artist, the Cuban-born Australian transplant is well-versed in every aspect of the sport. He has great striking skills and packs a lot of power. He possesses the power of a heavyweight in the body of a welterweight. The 36-year old has tremendous takedown defense, largely due to his solid judo base. This judoka black belt has decent cardio, though we have not seen him fight more than a couple of minutes in his new home at 170 pounds.. He is dangerous for all 15 minutes of action, as was made clear in his near-finish of Okami in the third round in his last bout at 185 pounds. JAKE SHIELDS (29-6-1-1 NC MMA, 3-2-0-1 NC UFC) has not tasted defeat in four fights, and is coming off an uneventful split decision victory over Damien Maia in Brazil five months ago. The win followed an even more lackluster split decision win over Tyron Woodley. That bout consisted mostly of Shields stalling Woodley against the cage, while peppering him with baby punches. Shields is not a very dangerous fighter, he is a grinder. He attaches himself to his opponents and tries to grind them out, be it on the mat or against the cage. The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt refers to his fighting style as “American Jiu-Jitsu” for his use of both wrestling and jiu-jitsu. Shields is not good at all when it comes to his striking, and does not seem to be showing any improvements in that department, either. The 35-year old’s cardio is hit or miss, especially at 170 pounds. I am not sure if he will have enough in the tank to keep Lombard off him for a full 15 minutes of action. Fight Prediction: I think Lombard will do to Shields in this fight what people expected Woodley to do, and pretty much what he did to Nate Marquardt. I don’t see Shields controlling him the same way he did Woodley. I think “Lightning” will find a way to strike, and I don’t think Shields is capable of absorbing too much of that incredible power. Gabe’s Pick: Hector Lombard by KO (punches, 0:59 round 1) – I predicted he would KO Nate Marquardt at 1:48 of round 1 and he got the KO at 1:49 of round 1. #HumbleBrag Gabe’s Recommended Play: Hector Lombard (-195) parlayed with Ovince St. Preux (-400) for -112 4.5u to win 4u
