UFC ON FX 6: December 14, 2012 Australia UFC Middleweight Contender Hector Lombard (-250) Profile: Hector Lombard (31-3-1) is coming off a very disappointing UFC debut against Tim Boetsch as the former Bellator middleweight champion. The 34-year-old Cuban has a fourth-degree black belt in Judo and was originally slated to make his first appearance with the organization at UFC 78, but visa issues prevented that from happening. Lombard was 24-0-1 in his previous 25 fights before losing to Boetsch, with his only two career losses coming against Akihiro Gono and Gegard Mousasi, both by unanimous decision in the 2006 PRIDE Bushido Welterweight Grand Prix Tournament. He blamed his poor UFC performance to injuries suffered during training leading up to the bout against Boetsch and will try to prove his naysayers wrong at UFC on FX 6. UFC Middleweight Contender Rousimar Palhares (+190) Profile: Middleweight monster Rousimar Palhares (14-4) is known and feared for his slick submission skills. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt has 10 submissions in his 10 wins, with six of them coming by way of heel-hook. Now the 32 year-old Brazilian grappler is looking to bounce back from his loss to rising middleweight Alan Belcher earlier this year, so he can get back in the mix for middleweight title contendership. Palhares had won three straight bouts prior to the setback against Belcher, which dropped him to 7-3 in the UFC with his other losses coming to Nate Marquardt and Dan Henderson. Opening UFC on FX 6 Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas has made Lombard a solid -250 favorite (bet $250 to win $100) against Palhares, who opened as a +190 underdog (bet $100 to win $190) according to the MMA odds. This is an intriguing middleweight matchup between two fighters who are each coming off very disappointing losses after being built up big-time heading into their last bouts. Neither obviously lived up to the hype, so this is a redemption fight to put themselves back into the right conversation and not the wrong one that they do not belong among the top contenders. Lombard claims he was hurt going into the Boetsch fight and has much more to prove to the UFC. Another loss to Palhares will make MMA fans question whether or not his 25-fight unbeaten streak was legit, as some already feel that way about the former Bellator champ. An impressive victory by Lombard could vault him into the Top 10 of middleweights in the MMAOB MMA Fighter Rankings while the same might be true for Palhares if he can score the upset. Regardless, these are two powerful fighters capable of winning in very different ways, with Palhares a submission specialist and Lombard a knockout artist.
