Hector Lombard Claims Injury Is the Reason Behind Bizarre Performance at UFC 149

Hector Lombard had, by fa,r one of the weirdest—and possibly worst—debuts in UFC history. The former Bellator champion was expected to walk into the Octagon and display his trademark punching prowess at UFC 149.

Lombard was even believed to be next in line for a title shot if he could defeat Tim Boetsch. It was not to be, however, as Lombard looked nothing like himself outside of thwarting a number of Boetsch takedown attempts. The American Top Team fighter took to his Facebook account to explain the performance.

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"I want to let all my fans know. I fought mu last fight injured. i wasnt 100% sure but i when to the doctors... I have a fracture sternum with a torn cartilage, i got this injure in training for my fight with Tim Boetsch. I have to be out of training for 6weeks i should never have fought like that, but i didnt want to let my fans and the UFC down, love you all."

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That seems like a fine explanation and sheds some light on why Lombard looked dreadful in his UFC debut. It was expected that Lombard would come out and put his detractors to rest with a win over a solid UFC fighter in Boetsch.

Instead, Lombard seemed content to literally stand in front of Boetsch and unload one power punch at a time. Boetsch was able to maneuver around the strong punches to land kicks that ultimately proved a decisive factor in the decision victory.

There was one bright spot for Lombard as he clearly hurt Boetsch with a kick to the midsection. However, Boetsch was able to recover and gather himself for the remainder of the fight. If there was one positive thought to take away from the fight for Lombard, it's that Boetsch couldn't take him down even with the painful injury that he had.

If Lombard does really sit out the next six weeks from training, that means we likely won't see him until December or early 2013. Before UFC 149, Lombard was practically begging for a fight with Mark Munoz. Although UFC President Dana White already nixed the idea, a fight with Munoz makes a lot of sense.