The fighter part of Hector Lombard (31-2-1 MMA, 8-0 BFC) wants to stick up for his teammate.
But the realist in him says there's little point in barking up the wrong tree.
Lombard, who at Bellator 58 earned yet another blistering knockout against an overmatched foe, today used his Twitter account to call out Fedor Emelianenko.
Reached for clarification, Lombard told
MMAjunkie.com (
UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) that he was "just playing around a little bit with the media" when he issued his message.
Sure, Lombard would like to fight Emelianenko. The former PRIDE champion dominated Jeff Monson at an M-1 pay-per-view event Sunday in Moscow, and he'd like to defend the honor of his American Top Team compatriot.
"Jeff Monson is my friend," Lombard said. "I was really upset about it. I've got to back my boy."
But the chance that Emelianenko will sign with Bellator are slim, to say nothing of what weight at which he and Lombard would fight.
"If they made that fight, I'd fight, but it's kind of like me trying to call out guys from the UFC," Lombard said. "That's just stupid on my part. I don't even bother to call anybody out from the UFC because of issues."
The Bellator champ has in the past called out fighters from other organizations, such as Strikeforce heavyweight Josh Barnett and former free agent and onetime UFC title challenger Nate Marquardt, but has found that his requests fall on deaf ears.
For now, Lombard must focus on another Russian, that of Alexander Shlemenko, who at Bellator 57 won his second middleweight tournament and earned the right to vie for the title in 2012.
Lombard said he is looking to "close the book" on the matchup after he struggled to put Shlemenko away in their first bout, which took place in October 2010 at Bellator 34. He said he was ill beforehand and fought the bout in a depleted state.
Just the opposite was true this past Saturday when he knocked out Trevor Prangley (33-9-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC) in the second round of a non-title bout at Bellator 58. The emphatic victory extended his win streak to 20. He hasn't been beaten in six years.
"I felt great before the fight, and I believe that was one of my best performances in my fighting career," Lombard said.
One thing is for sure: Lombard is running out of opponents. Shlemenko is widely considered to be one of the best middleweights in Bellator's stable, and a second loss to the champion could leave a dearth of credible competition.
"There's nobody left, man," Lombard said. "I think they signed some new talent. Yeah, it is (frustrating). I like to fight. Let's see what they have."
At the moment, Shlemenko represents a guy his size to pick on.
