Dec
21
2012
3

Hector Lombard: “I’m Disrespected by Palhares”

By Roy Billington

In an exclusive chat between MMA Ratings and UFC middleweight Hector Lombard, he spouts off on his recent opponent Rousimar Palhares, how he has decided to split camps between Australia and American Top Team for future fights, and how he now views himself as an Australian first and foremost.

(For the full interview check out the audio clip below.)

I first asked Hector what his problem is with Palhares, and he replied:

HL: Yeah, I’m bothered by Palhares because he’s been talking to the media, saying that his foot was broken and that was how he lost the fight. No he went to the fight healthy! He went to the fight 100% healthy. He said in his interview, “I’m very healthy for this fight, I won’t make any excuses,” and now because he broke his foot in the fight, he threw three kicks and I blocked them — I blocked every single one of them, and that’s why he broke his foot.

I then asked Lombard if he expected a tougher fight from Palhares and he said:

HL: Yeah, I was pretty confident I knew that I was stronger, physically stronger than Palhares. He has a good ground game, but his ground game is overrated; all he does is roll for leg locks.

On Mark Munoz, he answered:

HL: He said that he deserved a title shot and that he’s a better fighter than me and I’m want to prove I’m the better fighter. I’m not the sort of person to talk about other fighters, but these fighters who talk better back it up, because I’m going to back it up.

On how he is fighting for Australia, he replied:

HL: I love it, I love the fight for Australia and in Australia, and this is another thing that bother me, people saying I’m an Australian wannabe. I’m a citizen of the country! I want to make this clear: I pay tax to this country, I spend money in this country, you can’t choose where you’re born but you can choose where you want to live, and I choose 100% to live in Australia.

Don’t forget to rate Lombard’s UFC on FX 6 fight against Rousimar Palhares at MMA Ratings.

For the full interview make sure to listen to the attached audio.

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