UFC 222 results: Hector Lombard disqualified for KO punch of C.B. Dollaway after horn

After an interesting first five minutes, Hector Lombard used an extra second or two to knock C.B. Dollaway out.

But Lombard (34-9-1 MMA, 3-7 UFC) landed two punches after the horn, including a big left hand that put Dollaway (17-8 MMA, 10-8 UFC) on the canvas. Dollaway couldn’t continue to the second round, and because the punches clearly were after the round had ended, referee Mark Smith had no choice but to disqualify Lombard, giving the win to Dollaway.

The middleweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC 222 event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on FS1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

Dollaway kicked high right out of the gate, which has been something Lombard has been susceptible to in the past. Lombard worked leg kicks in the first minute. Dollaway landed a hard kick to the body a little past a minute in, then went back there again 30 seconds later. Lombard threw a right-hand counter when Dollaway again kicked the body midway through the round. Lombard got Dollaway’s attention with a punch in the final minute, but ate a punch to the body late in the round.

But after Dollaway landed a body kick just before the horn, Lombard landed a right jab, then a massive left hand. The right may have been tolerable, even if questionable. But the left was after the horn without question.

Dollaway started to sit up, but looked dazed. The doctors looked at him while Smith consulted cageside to be sure of the options, and once several minutes had passed there was no doubt the fight was going to be stopped no matter what. It was just a matter of whether it was going to be a no-contest or a disqualification, and Lombard got news he probably didn’t want to hear.

Dollaway was helped from the cage, then loaded onto a stretcher to leave the arena, and continually asked “What happened?,” appearing to not know how or why the fight was stopped. For his part, Lombard wasn’t sure what he did wrong, and his corner seemed to indicate to him that he was getting a raw deal. Replays said otherwise.

Dollaway won for the second straight time after a rough three-fight skid. Lombard lost for the fifth straight time and hasn’t won a fight in nearly four years. (A win over Josh Burkman in January 2015 was overturned to a no-contest when he failed a drug test.)

Up-to-the-minute UFC 222 results include:

• C.B. Dollaway def. Hector Lombard via disqualification (late punches) – Round 1, 5:00
• Zak Ottow def. Mike Pyle via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:34
• Cody Stamann def. Bryan Caraway via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jordan Johnson def. Adam Milstead via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)

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

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan and Ken Hathaway contributed to this report on site in Las Vegas.)