UFC on FX 6 Headed to Australia with Middleweights Hector Lombard, Rousimar Palhares

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Hector Lombard’s sophomore Octagon effort will take place in familiar territory.

The former Bellator kingpin will lock horns with Rousimar Palhares on Dec. 14 at a to-be-announced Australian venue, UFC President Dana White announced Friday. No other contests have been revealed for the event, which serves as UFC on FX 6.

A Cuban-born Australian who trains out of American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Fla., Lombard, 34, went more than five years without a defeat before stumbling in his UFC debut against Tim Boetsch this past July. Prior to that UFC 149 setback, Lombard ran through Bellator’s middleweight ranks, capturing the promotion’s 185-pound title while also winning belts Down Under for both the Cage Fighting Championships and the Australian Fighting Championship.

Palhares, 32, recently saw a three-fight winning streak snapped when he was finished by Alan Belcher at UFC on Fox 3. That May 5 defeat followed victories over David Branch, Dan Miller and Mike Massenzio for “Toquinho,” who has submitted 10 of his 14 career victims in his six years as a pro. Known for his skill in applying leg locks, Palhares owns nearly half of his victories by heel hook and has never been submitted.