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UFC lures Bellator champ Lombard

ESPN staff
April 25, 2012
Dana White has signed another significant fighter © Getty Images
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Former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard has left the organisation to join the UFC.

Lombard, the only middleweight champion in Bellator's history, joins the UFC after his four-year contract with the promotion expired. He will now look to establish himself in his new surroundings before searching for a title shot against dominant UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

"I am in the UFC it is official," Lombard tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.

The Australian brings to the UFC a record in the Octagon of 31 wins, two losses and a draw - although there has not yet been an announcement about who his first opponent in his new organisation will be.

Lombard is unbeaten in his last 25 fights, although he has only fought eight times in the past three years.

Bellator had the chance to match the UFC's offer to Lombard, but ultimately decided not to.

"The UFC model is largely based on pay-per-view, and the offer they made to Hector is going to be monetized via pay-per-view," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney told MMAFighting.com. "While pay-per-view could play a role in our future, today it doesn't."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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