Martial Arts: Bellator Champions Who Moved To The UFC
This Saturday at UFC 235, previous Bellator Welterweight champion Ben Askren will make his hotly anticipated introduction inside the Octagon. While Askren hasn’t really battled in Bellator since 2013 and has been with ONE FC for his last 7 battles, his presentation still denotes another case of a previous victor of the UFC’s greatest adversary advancement advancing into the Octagon.
Askren will join 7 other previous Bellator champions who joined the UFC and to state, they’ve seen blended outcomes in the greatest MMA advancement on the planet would be putting it mildly.
In this article, Allsportspk presents other previous Bellator champions who have battled in the UFC, and how they did when they arrived.
#7 Hector Lombard
Cuba’s Hector Lombard – who held Bellator’s Middleweight title from 2009 to 2011 and won 8 battles under their standard – moved to the UFC in 2012 with a great deal of pomp as a conceivable title contender there. Tragically, 7 years and 12 battles later ‘Showeather’ will most likely be perceived as one of the greatest busts in UFC history.
Lombard’s UFC run started gravely with dull misfortunes to Tim Boetsch and Yushin Okami sandwiching a success over Rousimar Palhares, yet a move to 170lbs seemed to have restored him, and he immediately reeled off noteworthy successes over Nate Marquardt and Jake Shields. A success over Josh Burkman seemed to move him into title dispute, however, then catastrophe struck.
The Cuban tried positive for anabolic steroids in the post-battle sedate tests following the Burkman win, and the outcome was immediately upset to a No Contest. Lombard was suspended for a year, and when he returned he essentially didn’t resemble a similar contender he’d been previously – his touchy striking remained, however, his stamina and sturdiness seemed to have evaporated medium-term.
Frustrating misfortunes to Neil Magny, Dan Henderson, Johny Hendricks, Anthony Smith, CB Dollaway, and Thales Leites have pursued, leaving Lombard on a six-battle losing streak – one of the most noticeably bad in UFC history. While he hasn’t resigned – or been cut by the UFC – yet, it appears simply a question of time. To call his turn from Bellator a debacle would be putting it mildly.
For the next Bellator champion who has moved to the UFC, move on to the next page!
