Hector Lombard's contract with Bellator has officially expired.
That's according to the promotion's CEO, Bjorn Rebney, who is currently working on resigning Lombard, who was originally scheduled to rematch the two-time Bellator Middleweight Tournament winner, Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko, in late 2011. Just recently, Shlemenko released a video where he "officially announces" the rematch with Hector Lombard won't happen, claiming that the reigning Bellator Middleweight champion is out of reach for any type of communication.
In an exclusive interview with MMAMania.com's Brian Hemminger, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney spoke about the current situation around Hector Lombard's future with the promotion:
"We've got the right to match on any deal. We're either gonna sign him before he goes out the to marketplace or he's going to go out to the marketplace and we're gonna have a determination as to whether we're gonna match or not match and we're gonna see where it ends up. I love the guy and he's an awesome talent. He's been nothing but a pure pleasure for me to work with. He's been a great guy for me to work with and he's done everything we've asked him to do and every time I've put him in a cage, he's knocked people silly. You can't really ask for more than that from a guy."
Only a few weeks ago, UFC President Dana White spoke about getting interested in signing Hector Lombard, stating that if the Cuban is interested in testing his skills inside the Octagon, the UFC would not hesitate in acquiring his services. Lombard is currently 31-2-1 in his MMA career, with 17 KO/TKO and 7 Submission finishes.