Hector Lombard (left) will defend the CFC Middleweight Championship title, which he has held since 2007, against Joe Doerksen to stay active while he awaits his Bellator 44 bout in May. (File photo)
Bellator Fighting Championship’s first and still reigning middleweight king “Shango” Hector Lombard (25-2) is returning to his adoptive home of Australia and stepping into the cage sooner than expected. Before he faces UFC, Strikeforce, and SUPERBRAWL veteran “Niko” Falaniko Vitale (27-8) at Bellator 44 in May, Lombard will defend his Cage Fighting Championships title against UFC veteran and world class submission expert “El Dirte” Joe Doerksen (44-14) on March 25 under the CFC banner. The bout will mark the seventh time that Lombard has defended his CFC middleweight title belt.
Lombard is currently enjoying a 16-fight win streak that witnessed him capture both the CFC and Bellator middleweight titles. Doerksen on the other hand is coming off of a two-fight skid in the UFC with losses to “The Doberman” CB Dollaway (11-2) and Dan Miller (13-4). If he can upset Lombard and take his belt, he could really gain a lot of attention in the MMA world and regain a lot of the momentum he lost getting cut from the UFC at the end of 2010.
Doerksen’s gameplan will most likely be to submit the powerful knockout artist, but getting Lombard to the ground is easier said than done. “Shango” is a fourth degree black belt in Judo and a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, making him very familiar with work in the clinch where all of Doerksen’s takedown abilities lie. Lombard’s likely strategy is simple: knockout his opponent in the first round and go enjoy the beaches of Sydney. The fight will either be an exciting clinch and ground war that goes the distance, or a very brief and very violent KO win for “Shango”.
