Lombard doesn't want title shot, he wants Mark Munoz

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29756/forget-anderson-silva-ufc-149s-hector-lombard-wants-mark-munoz-after-boetsch.mma
CALGARY, Alberta, Canada – Hector Lombard hasn't even had his first fight in the UFC yet, and he's up to four opponents. Sort of.

Lombard (31-2-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) originally was set to debut against Brian Stann – and then, perhaps, quickly fight middleweight champion Anderson Silva. The Stann fight fell through. He rebooked against Tim Boetsch (15-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC), whom he fights Saturday at UFC 149.

But on Wednesday, he told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he wants to fight Mark Munoz next – even if the UFC offers him a title shot with Silva.

"Saturday, I'm focused on this fight," Lombard told MMAjunkie.com after a workout session in Calgary. "And after that, I'm going to call Mark Munoz out. I'm focused on the fight, but I'm going to call out Mark Munoz after. That's my goal.

"I'm going to make a statement no matter what. But after that, I'm going to beat up Mark Munoz."

Lombard said Munoz, who a week ago suffered a brutal knockout loss at the hands of Chris Weidman at UFC on FUEL TV 4, has been running his mouth about him. And that, Lombard said, has rubbed him the wrong way.

"He's been talking a lot of trash about me," said Lombard, the former Bellator middleweight champ. "I'm one of those fighters that I don't like to talk about any fighter. I'm focused on myself. When I see people that do the wrong things, I have to do something about it."

Lombard, of course, realizes he's got Boetsch standing in front of him on Saturday in the co-main event. And with a 25-fight unbeaten streak coming in, with his last loss coming nearly six years ago, and the pressure of being the most prominent Bellator fighter to sign with the UFC, Lombard knows he must first win in Calgary before he can officially let Munoz know he wants to dance.

But if he beats Boetsch, and beats him impressively – he's more than a 3-to-1 favorite – would he really turn down a title shot against Silva?

"One hundred percent. You got it," he told MMAjunkie.com. "I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about him. I just want to fight him. I want to fight him bad."

But speaking of the task at hand, Lombard said the path to a potential fight with Munoz will be a little easier to tread if he just does his job on Saturday.

Boetsch comes into the fight on a three-fight win streak, including a stunning come-from-behind third-round knockout of Yushin Okami at UFC 144 in February. The former light heavyweight doesn't have the same kind of title buzz around him as Lombard, Weidman or even Munoz. But his win over Okami proved he can be a formidable foe.

"It's business as usual," Lombard said. "My respect to Tim Boetsch. He didn't walk away from the fight. My respect to him. Saturday night, I will take care of business. ... Saturday night, I need to perform, and I need to perform good.

"He's a strong fighter, a big guy. But no matter. I'm not going to go and say I'm better at this and that. Saturday, we'll prove who's best. There's no point for me to say it. When I look across the cage, I don't want to shake hands. I want to fight. No shaking hands for me. We're fighting. I'm taking care of business."

UFC 149 takes place Saturday at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary with a main card airing on pay-per-view. Prelims stream on Facebook and air on FX leading into the pay-per-view.

if that's what he wants that's what he should pursue it, but I think that is a stupid choice .

GDPofDRC wrote:

if that's what he wants that's what he should pursue it, but I think that is a stupid choice .

Understatement. It's fucking moronic. Hopefully he has someone smart around him that will prevent this from happening. But Timmy B could make this his logical next fight. Seems like we might be better off that way.

agree with the moronic angle.

Not only would he pass up a title fight, he'd do it to fight a guy who was just brutally KO'd?

But no way he beats Boetsch and then the UFC lets that happen.

Would be a cool fight if Boetsch wins though.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/29784/hector-lombard-wont-be-fighting-mark-munoz-after-ufc-149-says-ufc-boss.mma
CALGARY – During interviews promoting Saturday's UFC 149 event, Hector Lombard said he would turn down a title shot with champion Anderson Silva and to instead fight Mark Munoz.

But UFC president Dana White said the recent middleweight addition is missing one tiny detail.

"[Lombard] must not have FUEL TV because Munoz lost the other night," White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) at a pre-event press conference for UFC 149. "So if he wins on Saturday, I don't think he'll be fighting Mark Munoz."

Lombard (31-2-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) brushed aside questions about whether he might be looking past Tim Boetsch (15-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC), whom he faces in the co-headliner of Saturday's pay-per-view event.

"I don't want to make comments about anything else," Lombard said. "I've got to focus on my fight. Saturday night, we can talk about other stuff. Yes, I want to fight Mark Munoz, but that's going to be after this fight."

But according to White, that's not the best move.

"He'll be fighting one of the guys that are at the top of that division," White said. "Not that Munoz isn't, but Munoz has a loss right now."

UFC 149 takes place at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary. Main-card fights follows prelims on FX and Facebook.

A glut of title-worthy middleweights has recently emerged in the division. White promised a solution on how the promotion plans to sift through the candidates, though he held out on revealing it until after Saturday's event. Whatever the strategy, the outcome of Lombard vs. Boetsch undoubtedly will play a huge part in deciding whether to crown a No. 1 contender or set up a title-elimination match.

In addition to Lombard and Boetsch, the pool of standouts includes Chris Weidman, the man responsible for Munoz's recent loss, as well as Alan Belcher and Michael Bisping, who meet at UFC 152.

Boetsch said he plans to spoil Lombard's plans, whatever they might be.

"It's going to be a big surprise on Saturday night," he said.

Quote :

In addition to Lombard and Boetsch, the pool of standouts includes Chris Weidman, the man responsible for Munoz's recent loss, as well as Alan Belcher and Michael Bisping, who meet at UFC 152.

Typo?

What, he is going to turn down a potential title shot, to go beat on some guy that talked trash about you, boo fucking hoo, it's ok Weidman already stepped up and asked for the title shot.

cascade_run wrote:

What, he is going to turn down a potential title shot, to go beat on some guy that talked trash about you, boo fucking hoo, it's ok Weidman already stepped up and asked for the title shot.

For real, give it to Weidman, someone who has put in work and actually wants it.