Hector Lombard plans appeal of disqualification loss at UFC 222

UFC middleweight Hector Lombard feels the referee made the wrong call to disqualify him at UFC 222, and he plans to appeal the decision to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

“I feel like it should be a no contest,” Lombard told MMAjunkie on Sunday.

Lombard (34-8-1 MMA, 3-6 UFC) was declared the loser by disqualification at this past Saturday’s event after it was ruled C.B. Dollaway (16-8 MMA, 9-8 UFC) couldn’t continue. Dollaway was cracked with a pair of punches that landed following the bell for the end of the first round of their preliminary fight, which aired live on FS1 at T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas.

As he did after the bout, Lombard argues he was merely defending himself against an attack from Dollaway that came at the bell, and he believes the initial result should be overturned. He claims Dollaway simply didn’t want to continue after getting hit.

“I don’t see why (Dollaway) gets the win,” he said. “There’s a rule that you protect yourself at all times during the fight. If he throws a kick at me, I’m going to throw back.”

The NSAC’s rules state that attacking an opponent after the end-of-round bell is a foul. In the case of an intentional foul that renders an opponent unable to continue, it’s a disqualification. In the event of an accidental foul involving a concussive blow where an opponent can’t continue, a no decision can be declared.

“I don’t think I did anything wrong, and I don’t feel like I have to apologize to anybody,” Lombard said. “I just feel like he didn’t want to fight, and that’s not on me.”

To overturn the official decision, Lombard, who once served a one-year suspension in Nevada for a failed drug test, has three paths to overturning the call. He’ll need to prove a scoring error has been committed, proof of collusion, or a misapplication of the rules by the referee. The latter is most often cited when fighters appeal a decision, though the NSAC rarely chooses to re-examine referee calls because they are considered the sole arbiters of a contest.

Lombard argues his late hit may not have happened at all if referee Mark Smith had stepped between them at the bell.

“I think the referee should’ve been closer, especially when the round is about to end,” he said. “You have to be closer, because we’re exchanging punches.”

Immediately after the disqualification, UFC officials and the crowd sided with Dollaway, who was taken away on a stretcher after he was ruled unfit to continue. Lombard didn’t get a chance to talk to the commission or the UFC before he was escorted backstage, and he deferred his fight-protest to his manager. UFC President Dana White backed Smith’s call at the post-event press conference.

Several fighters, however, were sympathetic toward Lombard’s actions. Ex-UFC heavyweight and Bellator fighter Roy Nelson said Lombard’s “muscle memory kicked in” and added, “He did the same thing seconds before so the question is did he deserve the DQ?”

Three-time UFC title challenger and Bellator fighter/commentator Chael Sonnen emphatically stated it’s the referee’s job to stop the round.

“We are very clearly told, you do not stop until the referee stops you,” he said in a video posted on YouTube. “Nobody stopped Hector Lombard. A disqualification was the wrong call, and if there’s any kind of sanctioning or fines that come along with disqualification, that he has to be sanctioned … or fined, then there needs to be an outcry, because that is not the rule.”

Lombard didn’t say whether he’d been instructed by Smith that a round stoppage would be initiated by the referee.

Manager Narcis Mujkic said the stakes of the appeal are high. He said a disqualification loss will force Lombard to appear before the commission to get another fight license. They plan to hire a legal team to fight the decision.

“There are other examples of punches after the bell,” Lombard’s repsaid . “Hector was doing a combination and had muscle memory and was doing what he had to do.”

With two fights remaining on his current UFC contract, Lombard initially welcomed a rematch with Dollaway. Now, he mainly hopes the promotion will put him back to work quickly.

“I think I need to get another fight and put my mind on another fight,” he said. “Otherwise, I’m going to go crazy, and I just need to come out with a win.”

For complete coverage of UFC 222, check out the UFC Events section of the site.