Hector Lombard vs. Yushin Okami (UFC on FUEL 8)

[Rob_Floyd]

"Thunder" and "Lightning" will collide at Saitama Super Arena, as Yushin "Thunder" Okami (28-7 MMA, 12-4 UFC) meets Hector "Lightning" Lombard (32-3-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) at UFC on FUEL TV 8.

UFC officials announced the booking late Monday night.

Featuring a light heavyweight headliner between Wanderlei Silva and Brian Stann, UFC on FUEL TV 8 takes place March 3 (but airs live in the U.S. on March 2 due to the time difference) at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The main card airs on FUEL TV following prelims on Facebook.

Lombard, who migrated to the UFC as the Bellator MMA middleweight champion, saw an incredible 25-fight unbeaten streak snapped at the hands of Tim Boetsch at this past July's UFC 149 event. He rebounded with an impressive first-round knockout of grappling ace Rousimar Palhares at December's UFC on FX 6 event.

Okami brings a two-fight win streak to the bout. Following back-to-back losses to Tim Boetsch and Anderson Silva (in a failed bid for the UFC's middleweight title), Okami has since bouned back with wins over Alan Belcher and Buddy Roberts.

With the new booking, the latest UFC on FUEL TV 8 card includes:

Wanderlei Silva vs. Brian Stann
Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Struve
Hector Lombard vs. Yushin Okami
Takanori Gomi vs. Diego Sanchez
Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Mizuto Hirota vs. Rani Yahya
Riki Fukuda vs. Brad Tavares
Bryan Caraway vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Cristiano Marcello vs. Kazuki Tokudome
Alex Caceres vs. Kyung Ho Kang
Marcelo Guimaraes vs. Hyun Gyu Lim

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Fight makes quite a bit of sense. A very tough one for Okami, though. If Lombard pressures him, I don't think Okami will be able to survive, and Hector isn't exactly easy to take down.

[thejokerswild]

Solid card.

[Koa]

This fight is a really good test for Lombard, so long as he doesn't land too quickly.. I want to see how good he is vs Okami in the clinch. If Lombard can overpower Okami or neutralize his wrestling like I think he can, it will be a baaaad matchup for Okami

[Flea Man]

This is all about whether Okami can smother Lombard.

Can't see it. As strong as Okami is in the clinch Lombard is a tank (and esteemed there himself of course)

So I see Lombard stifling Okami's takedowns and trip attempts, keeping it standing, landing the harder punches and taking him out.

Honestly though even though he hasn't looked the same fighter since Silva II if Okami grinds out a decision I will not be completely surprised. But Belcher managed to hurt him in the few times he was up so I guess Hector will have more than enough time to catch Okami in a blizzard.

Real test though.

[Nipple]

Lombard via TKO.

Gomi vs Diego will be fireworks! Damn that's a great fight.

[the_bigunit]

Lombard KO

[Koa]

Yep, if Lombard can neutralize Okami and force standup, he may as well be prime Chuck Liddell, it's Palhares all over again but ala wrestler. I'm a fan of Lombard, guy has natural power and timing, his gnp is gory and aggressive, and he's just a mean, dominant dude. But his striking technique.. I'm not impress.. He relies so heavily on his striking, it looks better now, but it's still loopy and you can see he gets sloppy and reaches as well.

Maybe we will see yet more improvement in his striking. Guy fights out of anger and is very emotional, it's why I think he needs to tighten his striking.. Guys like him were born to be countered... But he can change that.

[Primenal]

Originally Posted by Koa

Yep, if Lombard can neutralize Okami and force standup, he may as well be prime Chuck Liddell, it's Palhares all over again but ala wrestler. I'm a fan of Lombard, guy has natural power and timing, his gnp is gory and aggressive, and he's just a mean, dominant dude. But his striking technique.. I'm not impress.. He relies so heavily on his striking, it looks better now, but it's still loopy and you can see he gets sloppy and reaches as well.

Maybe we will see yet more improvement in his striking. Guy fights out of anger and is very emotional, it's why I think he needs to tighten his striking.. Guys like him were born to be countered... But he can change that.

I agree with most of that. One good thing I can say about his striking, besides his monstrous power, is his footwork. He does reach sometimes, but he's pretty good by MMA standards at getting in and getting out of range with his footwork. I doubt to many people are skilled enough to really counter him except Silva.

[Muchmoore]

Not a good matchup for Okami.

UFC's been trying to build Hector up in the stale MW division and after this one he should be pretty close to a title shot at 185. He needs to bring it though not have another fight like he did with Boetsch who is not good. Okami looked good against Boetsch for two rounds but his durability let him down like it will against Hector.

[BobDigi5060]

Why can't they stack PPVs like this??

I'll be rooting for Okami, and I don't give a damn about Mark Hunt. Not because I fancy Stephan Struve, but because the rest of you make me sick with all the hype.

[Rob_Floyd]

Originally Posted by BobDigi5060

Why can't they stack PPVs like this??

I'll be rooting for Okami, and I don't give a damn about Mark Hunt. Not because I fancy Stephan Struve, but because the rest of you make me sick with all the hype.

Well that's a silly outlook. Work on that.

[BobDigi5060]

How about you work on your avy??

He is unaesthetic, and overrated. Sorry.

[Rob_Floyd]

I tried to work on my av, but it didn't work, so I gave up.

I'd say is fairly rated. Nobody is unrealistic about him, either. Even the most diehard Hunt fans will concede that if Struve takes him down, it's more than likely game over.

[Rob_Floyd]

Oh, it worked that time.

[BobDigi5060]

Now that's more like it!

I guess I'm as crazy about some of my fighters, too. But, I just don't know about Mr. Hunt. Come to find out this fight was supposed to happen months ago. I look forward to SS tapping that ass, but he may get blasted.