Jason Lambert: The Rise and Fall of UFC's "Punisher"

Jason "the Punisher" Lambert's debut was UFC 58: USA vs. Canada on March 4th, 2006 with a submission (kimura) victory over Rob Macdonald.

The Punisher is a smothering force that can beat you with a variety of styles. His ground submissions are deadly and his punching power has laid out almost 20 opponents since 2001.

In the UFC, Lambert had a roller coaster ride while he was there, with four wins and four losses in eight fights.

Running through his first three opponents and staring at a potential light heavyweight title fight, life became tough in the UFC for the Punisher soon after.

Jason Lambert arrived in the UFC with a submission victory over Rob Macdonald. Jason “the Punisher” Lambert had arrived!

His next fight was scheduled six weeks later, April 15^th, 2006, on UFC 59: Reality Check against hard-hitting Terry Martin, who was coming off a loss to James “Sandman” Irvin and his flying knee nine seconds into their second round fight at UFC 54.

Lambert beats Terry Martin, handing him only his second loss in MMA with a TKO (strikes) two and a half minutes into the second round of the fight.

Riding a wave of wins by decisive fashion, the UFC brings in Branden Lee Hinkle to face the Punisher at Ultimate Fight Night 5 on June 28^th, 2006. Hinkle was coming into the fight with a loss to Jeff Monson at UFC 57, but was riding a six fight win streak prior to that fight.

Some speculated that it was the debut jitters or “Octagon Shock." Lambert sent a barrage of punches into Hinkle and by the end of the first round, the ref gave mercy to Hinkle and called off the fight.

Within a three month span, Jason Lambert was undefeated and looking at a potential light heavyweight title shot around the corner. He was a smothering force that could beat you with a variety of styles, including his deadly ground submissions.

Since 2001, he had defeated nearly twenty opponents by knockout or TKO.Lambert was a force in the octagon, but his biggest challenge lay in wait.

Just a year before, “Suga” Rashad Evans was a newcomer to the UFC. He was cast on the Ultimate Fighter 2 show and defeated Brad Imes to become the Ultimate Fighter winner on November 5^th, 2005. He defeated Sam Hoger and Stephan Bonnar soon after, but gained infamy as the guy who couldn't finish his opponent.

Dana White set up a fight between the two undefeated UFC fighters for UFC 63 on September 23^rd, 2006.

Rashad Evans was all over Lambert through the entire event and finished him at 2:22 of the second round by knockout.

For the first time in the UFC, Lambert had been defeated and showed weakness as he couldn't toss Evans from the mount position. Evans went on to win the light heavyweight title two years later.

Lambert took six months off, then UFC brought him back to face MMA legend Renato “Babalu” Sobral at UFC 68: The Uprising on March 3^rd, 2007.

Lambert returned and won big with a TKO at 3:36 in the second round over Sobral.

It seemed The Punisher was back...but not for long.

The next eight months were terrible fights for Lambert, as he fell from grace with back-to-back-to-back losses against Wilson Gouveia at UFC 80, Luis Arthur Cane at UFC: Bedlam, and Jason Macdonald at UFC: Breakthrough, all in 2008.

Lambert never returned to the UFC. Jason Lambert had begun falling to the same knockouts and submission that he once put opponents out with.

Who knows if he'll make a return to the UFC?

At 34, he can still come back but the landscape has changed in the last three years, with a new hybrid of fighters taking it to the next level every time they compete.