Over the course of two years, Hector Lombard (31-2-1 MMA, 8-0 BFC) fought eight times for Bellator Fighting Championships, won the promotion's middleweight title and became one of its biggest stars.
But Lombard's contract is now expired, and he could hit the open market in spring.
Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney today confirmed to MMAjunkie.com Radio (
www.mmajunkie.com/radio) that Lombard is in the midst of an exclusive negotiating period with the promotion. A source close to negotiations tells MMAjunkie.com that lawyers for Bellator and its parent company Viacom are negotiating with Lombard and his camp as the term winds down.
When it expires in late April, Lombard will enter a matching period where he can take offers from other promoters. In turn, Bellator, who has said the term expires in May, can match them within 30 days. Depending on who you ask, the length of that term runs a year or indefinitely. However, Bellator gets only one opportunity to match a particular offer.
Lombard's current standing doesn't bind him to the promotion. While his original contract was extended in late 2010, his so called "champion's clause" ran it's course by Jan. 31 of this year. So if Bellator is unable to secure the champ by late April, the bidding begins.
Undefeated in almost five years with 10 wins by way of stoppage due to strikes, Lombard is an attractive free agent. Although he is not yet able to negotiate with other promotions, he is already on the radar of UFC president Dana White, who said he kept hearing about the middleweight while in Sydney this past weekend for UFC on FX 2.
"I guess he's pretty popular down here," White said. "I hear he's under contract though with someone else, so we'll see. I'll probably end up with him. If he wants to fight in the UFC, then we'll probably end up with him."
Lombard splits time between South Florida and Sydney, where he emigrated after representing his native Cuba at the 2000 Olympic Games. He most recently fought at Bellator 58, where he notched a second-round TKO over veteran Trevor Prangley in a non-title catchweight bout at 195 pounds.
The question, how, for Bellator – and Lombard's suitors – is how much he's worth. The champ has knocked out virtually all of the competition in a promotion most consider subordinate to the UFC. He has, in fact, already brushed shoulders with the big show. He was scheduled to fight at UFC 78 in November 2007, though visa issues kept him from making his octagon debut.
But he was 29 years old then, and at 34, he's nearing the end of his athletic peak. So there's a limited time to cash in on his current value.
"I've had lots of guys go from other organizations into the UFC," said manager Monte Cox, whose former client, former lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez, is also nearing the tail end of his current contract. "I've never been in a position where the organization we're leaving really has the money to compete with the UFC. So that's what makes this so interesting.
"If Bellator really wants these guys – and I'm sure they would like to keep them – that puts the UFC in a tough position. Because if they offer up something that's average, Bellator certainly will match it. I'm interested from a manager's perspective on what kind of offer the UFC will make to get these guys that Bellator can't match."
While it's unknown what measure of financial support Bellator parent company Viacom offers in getting and keeping fighters, the promotion's pockets may have deepened considerably since it was purchased by the media giant this past October.
The challenge, then, for any potential Lombard suitors is making an offer that's competitive, but one that still allows the promotion to make money. Because a drawn out bidding war isn't an option, making that offer is a calculated risk that incorporates a bet on how much Bellator is willing to match.
"It's a tough deal for the UFC," Cox said. "They can't just open up the bank. At some point, they could choose to just offer a pretty good chunk and force Bellator to pay it, almost driving up the price."
Rebney acknowledged that crunch time is almost here for the middleweight champ.
"I think he's the best middleweight in the world," he said. "We're trying to work dynamics with him (and) see if we can put a deal together. If we can't put a deal together, he'll be able to go out to the open market and talk to the UFC, and if he gets an offer, we have the right to match it.
"So it's going to come down to a business decision for him. He's a tremendous, tremendously talented athlete. He's at his peak; he's at his prime. As a fan with my CEO hat off, I think Hector Lombard is the best middleweight in mixed martial arts. So we would obviously like to have him continue to fight here, and if we're not able to come to an agreement, he'll go and get other offers and then we'll make a decision whether we're going to match those offers or let him go."
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