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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The rumored fight between Bellator Middleweight Champion Hector Lombard and former WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho is now official, as the organization announced Tuesday that the fight will take place at Bellator 18 on May 13th.
The third official "Super Fight" pitting one of Bellator's season one winners against a big named opponent in a non-Title bout, Lombard-Filho pits a former top 10 middleweight against the still under the radar Lombard.
Said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney in today's announcement, "Our super fights are designed to test our champions against the best available fighters. Paulo's won three fights in the last eight months including an impressive submission victory over Melvin Manhoef in DREAM in July. When Paulo’s on his game, he is one of the most dangerous middleweights in the world. Just over a year ago he was ranked as one of the top 185-pounders on earth. Now, he’s back and winning frequently.
"And, whereas other top middleweights wanted nothing to do with Hector Lombard, Paulo and his team agreed to take this fight. As I have said frequently, I believe Hector Lombard is one of the top middleweights in the world, and this fight could be a great test for Hector and a great fight for MMA fans."
Bellator 18's location and venue has not yet been determined.
Penick's Analysis: There will still be some who will say they'll believe Filho's participation in the fight when he's in the cage on May 13th, but an official announcement from Bellator puts this fight on the calender for sure at the very least. I've said before that I like this fight a lot, and it really gives Lombard a chance to announce himself to the U.S. audience that hasn't seen what he's done in an 18 fight unbeaten streak. This is another thing that's great about the television deal with FSN for Bellator, as a whole lot more people will get to see fighters like Hector Lombard showcase what they can do.
RELATED STORIES: Initial report on the Lombard-Filho matchup with Penick's early analysis: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
Report on lightweight Super Fight between Eddie Alvarez and Josh Neer for Bellator season two: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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