(An impressive win over Semerzier could earn Fabiano a shot at 0-0 featherweight prospect Spencer Pratt. Photo courtesy of MMA Weekly.)
Unfortunately, not every fight can be as competitive as Tank Abbott vs. Butterbean. Two matchups came down the pipe yesterday that probably wouldn’t get approved if we were the ones holding the rubber stamps. First up…
— Wagnney Fabiano vs. Mackens Semerzier: Top-five featherweight Fabiano was originally supposed to face Erik Koch at WEC 43 (October 10th, San Antonio), and even then we were like WTF, can this guy get an opponent that’s at least near the top 20? But Koch suffered an injury in training, and coming in to replace him on two weeks notice will be Mackens Semerzier, a 28-year-old U.S. Marine and Miguel Torres student who currently has an MMA record of 3-0; two of his opponents were making their pro debuts when he faced them, and the other had a record of 1-0. In other words, this is about as big a leap in competition as theoretically possible. Could Semerzier shock the world next month? No, absolutely not — his arms are going to end up where his legs used to be. On the bright side, maybe Fabiano can finally score a quick stoppage in the WEC and start earning the fan-respect that he deserves. And speaking of top-ten fighters being given sacrificial lambs…
— Hector Lombard vs. Kalib Starnes: Lombard is the #6-ranked Bellator champ and former Olympic judoka who hasn’t lost a match since a decision to Gegard Mousasi in 2006, 16 fights ago. Starnes is that doofus whose cowardly performance against Nate Quarry at UFC 83 inspired what came to be known as "The Rock Hammer." The two middleweights will be clashing at Cage Fighting Championship 11 (October 9th; Queensland, Australia). Lombard was previously the middleweight champion of CFC, and is 5-0-1 in the organization. Starnes hasn’t competed since an armbar win over Chris Cisneros at a Destiny MMA event last November, which was his first match since leaving the UFC. So, anybody want to take some action on these fights? We got Fabiano and Lombard. Come on, we’ll give you 2-1 odds and everything…
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Lombard looks like a girl in this staredown pic.