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Hector Lombard needed a big win against very dangerous UFC Middleweight Rousimar Palhares and he scored a big first round knockout. Lombard has only recently come to the UFC, stepping over from the Bellator Fighting Championships.
Lombard left Bellator because of their lack of elite level challengers and he was promised a chance at a title shot if he was able to put together a few wins. But in his debut disappointed when Tim Boetsch was able to eek out a tepid decision against Lombard.
In the fight against Palhares, Lombard clearly had learned from his recent defeat. Instead of winging flat footed punches, Lombard picked his shots and carefully trapped Palhares against the fence and unleashing combinations of punches. Lombard dropped Palhares once mid-way through the first round, and the fight went to the ground, but there Lombard was very careful with the Brazilian leg lock expert. Palhares was not aggressive on the ground however, as he appeared to be using the time grappling to recover from the beating he took on the feet.
Lombard was able to escape back to the feet. He rocked the Brazilian hard again and this time was able to finish for a (T)KO victory. After the fight Lombard did mention about wanting to work towards a title but also called out British Middleweight Michael Bisping, who is currently slated to fight Vitor Belfort in January.