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6. Hector Lombard vs. Alexander Shlemenko
Bellator 34
Oct. 28, 2010 | Hollywood, Florida
The showdown everyone had anticipated in Bellator’s middleweight division turned into an infomercial for Lombard’s brute physicality.

The American Top Team standout utilized repeated takedown and paired suffocating top control with intermittent ground-and-pound to claim a unanimous decision over Shlemenko and retain the Bellator middleweight championship at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. All three judges scored it 49-46 for Lombard.

The muscular judoka met Shlemenko with an overhand right and winging punches to start the first round, connected with a left uppercut and ducked underneath an ill-advised spinning back fist before driving the Russian to the mat. Shlemenko soon developed a hematoma on the right side of his forehead while eating elbows in full guard. The scene repeated itself again and again during the 25-minute encounter, and the swelling on Shlemenko’s head continued to grow as he absorbed a slow-but-steady body-head attack from the champion. Lombard faded in Round 5, which allowed the challenger to avoid the shutout. However, his superiority was never in doubt.

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