UFC welterweight contender, Hector Lombard discusses his side of the story about the infamous training session(s) with Josh Barnett, the beef (or lack thereof) with Gegard Mousasi, who he wants to fight when he comes back and more.
Tonight, UFC welterweight standout, Hector Lombard will be taking on his first commentary gig for House of Fame MMA via their "Nations Collide: USA vs Cuba card in Miami, FL. He will be covering the Spanish portion of the broadcast for this internationally themed card.
Lombard, an Olympic judoka and high level MMA competitor, had a rough entry into the UFC 185 pound roster, but found immediate success when he decided to drop down to welterweight. Despite this success, he would find himself without an opponent for nearly a year, even after calling out seemingly every guy in the division.
Finally, he would get a fight booked with the unranked, Josh Burkman, fresh off his release from World Series of Fighting. The fight went all three rounds, with Hector emerging the victor in a unanimous decision. He was booked almost immediately to fight Rory MacDonald at UFC 186, but the fight was pulled following his positive test for anabolic steroids.
In a recent interview with Bloody Elbow, Hector discussed a variety of topics including his side of the story about the infamous training session(s) with Josh Barnett, the beef (or lack thereof) with Gegard Mousasi, who he wants to fight when he comes back and more.
*It should be noted that when this interview was arranged, I was informed by his PR manager that Hector "wasn't allowed" to comment on his suspension or the details surrounding it.*
Bloody Elbow: Tell me about the event you'll be calling the action for this weekend (USA vs Cuba: Nations Collide).
Hector Lombard: The event is between two countries, Cuba and the U.S. and is in Miami. It's a bit of competition between the two, and it goes back to the politics and all that stuff. Overall, I think it will be very interesting finally seeing Cuba practice MMA, since it was illegal until recently. I'm pretty excited about it.
Bloody Elbow: Is fight commentary something you're interested in for your post-fight career?
Hector Lombard: It (doing commentary) is 100% something I'm interested in for after my fight career. Commentating fights is part of my journey. I've been passionate about the sport for a very long time, and I'm knowledgeable of it. I'd like to continue being part of the sport, no matter what. Maybe if the UFC decides to go to Cuba one day, I'd love to be part of the card, whether fighting on it or calling the action.
Bloody Elbow: Do you feel that in order to be truly successful in this sport, you need to have a solid base in one specific discipline, or is it best to have basic knowledge of several disciplines?
Hector Lombard: Most fighters start right away with fighting, and I don't think that's a good idea. No matter which martial art you practiced before, you should be experienced so that when you jump into MMA, you've got all that preparation under your belt.
Of course it's good to have a little bit of knowledge in all the main disciplines; boxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu or judo, taekwondo, but having a lot of skill in one over the others helps more in my opinion. Most of the great fighters have a strong background in one discipline, so when they made their transition to this sport, they were already ahead of the game.
Bloody Elbow: You and Ronda Rousey are well known for your achievements in judo. What do you think of her style and recent fights?
Hector Lombard: I did a few interviews about her back when she was first coming on the scene, and I told people that nobody was going to beat her. People laughed at me then, but they're not laughing now. I can see in the comments underneath the story, people saying, ‘Look at this idiot talking like she's never gonna get beat.' I remember seeing her compete in judo, and with all respect, she was crazy. She was mean...the toughest girl there. I mean this in a good way. I knew when she came over to MMA that she was going to be a killer, and I was right.
I'm grateful for her. She revolutionized women's MMA and took it to another level. Her performance and attitude and charisma...she's definitely taken it to a higher level. These girls have to be better, train better to keep up with her. She's one of the best things to happen to the sport, period. I'm so proud that a judo girl is the one getting the attention.
Bloody Elbow: In the past, there were rumors that you were overly aggressive in the gym and some even went so far as to call you a bully. What's your take on that?
Hector Lombard: Most of the time, when I spar, I go with heavyweights or light heavyweights. I never spar with smaller guys than me, so how can I be a bully? Even when I spar these bigger guys, I'm respectful to them.
Bloody Elbow: This upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter features your team (ATT) against the Blackzilians team. Will you be a featured coach and were the film crews in the gym constantly in order to get footage?
Hector Lombard: I'm not a trainer at ATT, I'm a fighter. I was around to help out, but not as a coach.
There were about 1000 cameras all over the gym. Anytime something happened, they would just come up out of nowhere [laughs]. In a bout two seconds, you would have about four guys with cameras around you.
Bloody Elbow: Did that interfere with the training there?
Hector Lombard: No, not too much. We're used to filming in there already, so it wasn't bad at all.
Bloody Elbow: Do you already have some names you'd like to fight when you come back?
I wish my call-outs worked as well as some other people. I would love a fight with Bisping, but that never happened. I'd still like that fight. It doesn't need to be at catchweight, either. I'd go right back to 185 for him.
Bloody Elbow: What's the story with you two?
Hector Lombard: That friggin' guy...I would just like to knock him out. He never stops talking. It's just as simple as that.
Bloody Elbow: I recently read an article with Gegard Mousasi, who said that there is still some bad blood between you two. What's your side of that story?
Hector Lombard: The story is that I was working with these guys from Japan (Pride) and they had me fly over to sign a contract. I was supposed to go back home after, but they old me, ‘Now that you're here, we've got you a fight for the Bushido Tournament.' So I fought Akihiro Gono, who had been training for three months. They called me a couple months after and said, ‘We're going to give you another chance, but you have to leave next week for the fight.'
They didn't even tell me who I was fighting. Next thing I know, I'm in another Bushido Tournament, fighting Gegard Mousasi on short notice. I've said it was a bit unfair because of the short notice, but that's all I've said.
Bloody Elbow: Would you like to fight him again?
Hector Lombard: Yes, I would.
Bloody Elbow: When did you know you wanted to be a fighter?
Hector Lombard: I always had a little bit of a bad temper and was getting into fights a lot. I ended up doing judo to stay out of trouble and because there was nothing else to do. I've always liked the physical sports. Combat sports was what suited me.
Bloody Elbow: Of all your opponents, who hits hardest?
Hector Lombard: I don't know because I don't usually get hit that much. Even when I do get hit, it's no big deal. They all seem the same to me. Nobody's ever hit me and made me think, ‘Oh man, I'm in trouble.'
Bloody Elbow: Do you feel that all your accomplishments outside the UFC with fighting and judo carried over adequately, or do you think they could have done a little more to promote them?
Hector Lombard: I would love it if they would promote me a little more, especially in Australia. I spent almost my whole early career fighting there. I would like to be promoted in Latin America, too. I believe that I have another 5 or 6 years left in me before I retire, and I hope that they give me the opportunity to represent in those areas more.
Bloody Elbow: Several fighters have complained that they will be losing more outside sponsor money than they will make with the Reebok deal. Are you one of the athletes that will be losing money?
Hector Lombard: I've never had big money sponsors, so for me, that Reebok thing is great.
Bloody Elbow: What happened between you and Josh Barnett?
Hector Lombard: I've never been intimidated by any man. I don't care what the size of the man is, I've never been intimidated. I remember when I was young, back in school, and I would take on the biggest kid in school.
One day in training, we sparred for like 15 minutes, and I broke his (Barnett) nose. He was bleeding all over the place. He kind of got embarrassed about it. From that day on, he disliked me. So sometime later down the road, we were training again, and there was a lot of people there. I was doing change-ups, training with multiple guys, and he was there, waiting for me to get tired. Once he saw I got tired, he came and took me down and started beating the crap out of me. I felt like I was fighting for my life when he was on top of me.
He had me scared, and I got out in an escape. After that, he stopped. That's what happened. It all started with that first sparring session where I beat the crap out of him and broke his nose. I remember they had to have someone come and clean the mat because he bled all over it.
Bloody Elbow: There's been constant speculation that Brock Lesnar might make a return to the UFC. If he does, it's very likely he will be looking for a high level gym to train at. Do you think he'd be welcome at ATT?
Hector Lombard: Everyone is welcome at ATT. I would be more than happy to help him with whatever he needs. We would love to have him come over with us.
You can catch Hector's commentary this evening at 8 PM EST via GFL.TV
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