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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard will be facing off against former WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho this May according to a report from Tatame.com.
It will be the second of the "Super Fights" that Bellator will be promoting for their season one tournament winners as they await a #1 contender to emerge from the second season's tournaments. The first of those pits Lightweight Champion Eddie Alvarez against former UFC fighter Josh Neer.
Lombard has been an extremely successful fighter in his nearly six year career, posting a 25-2-1 record since September of 2004. The Australian is a double Champion as well, as he's defended his Cage Fighting Championships Middleweight Title six times since winning it in 2007. He rolled through the Bellator middleweight tournament in the first season, winning all three of his fights by TKO stoppage.
Filho was once considered one of the best middleweight fighters in the world, but after what appeared to be a mental breakdown during his into and after his fight with Chael Sonnen he's dropped off the landscape somewhat. Since that fight he's posted three straight wins, however, and is looking to erase the images of that dark period in his personal and professional life.
The Tatame report suggests the fight will come to the May 20th Bellator event. Bellator Fighting Championships airs live on Fox Sports Net every Thursday beginning April 8th.
Penick's Analysis: This is a great middleweight fight, and another big pickup for Bellator if Filho sticks it out and this fight does in fact take place. Lombard is a guy that hasn't had a chance to breakout to fans in the U.S. as of yet, but this is his chance here with Bellator having a much, much wider audience here for this second season. Filho has a chance to get back to form and move past the last image U.S. fans have of him, and that's of him flopping to his back and staring off to nowhere while in the cage against Chael Sonnen in the WEC. This is much more of a "Super Fight" as well than the Alvarez-Neer fight, and another big addition to a Bellator card.
FYI: Lombard's only lost two fights in his career, and both came in Pride in 2006. The last loss came at the hands of current Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard Mousasi, and he's been unbeaten in 18 fights since that loss.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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