Full Contact Fighter Database

Home

>

News

>

Article

Media

Tuesday, Jul 24, 2012

After Defeating Hector Lombard, Tim Boetsch Says “I Honestly Believe That I’m Next in Line” For a Title Shot

Tim Boetsch (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

X-Rays Reveal Middleweight’s Foot Not Fractured

By Kelsey Mowatt

Although UFC President Dana White didn’t commit to anything in terms of what exactly was riding on the UFC 149 bout between Tim Boetsch and Hector Lombard, the narrative surrounding the middleweight fight was that an impressive win for either man could secure a title shot. In the end, of course, the fight produced very few of the highlight reel moments fans had expected, and left White stating afterwards that rising Chris Weidman had the lead in the race to fight champion Anderson Silva next.

Although Boetsch’s split decision win over the former Bellator champ may not have delivered in entertainment value, from “The Barbarian’s” perspective, the fact remains that he just became the first man in 25 fights to defeat the highly regarded Lombard. In other words, according to Boetsch, his recent run has positioned him as the frontrunner in the middleweight title shot picture.

“I honestly believe that I’m next in line,” Boetsch (16-4) told Full Contact Fighter. “If you look at the quality of opponents that I’ve beaten versus the guys that Weidman’s beat. He beat Munoz, Munoz is tough, but the quality of opponents Munoz has beaten, I think the top opponent that both him and Chris had in common was Demian Maia, who isn’t even in the weight class any longer…if I’m recalling all the fights correctly.”

“So it’s interesting to me that I’m still being overlooked in the title picture, talking about these other guys,” added Boetsch, who prior to fighting Lombard, stopped former number one contender Yushin Okami in February. “I just beat a guy who had 25 wins in a row; a former world champion over at Bellator, and no one was able to figure out how to get it done until right now. If I’m not deserving then I don’t understand why. I’m trying to figure out why those guys would be in front of me.”

While White credited Boetsch for his recent successes, he also reportedly cited Weidman’s impressive stoppage of Munoz, as a reason why the undefeated fighter would be tapped for a title shot if the UFC was making the fight right away.

“Absolutely that’s a factor,” Boetsch conceded. “I understand why. Fans are the ones shilling out money to buy tickets for the fight and ultimately they’re the ones we need to entertain…that being said, the criticism towards the pace of my fight, and some of the things that are being said out there, I was the first guy to figure out how to beat Hector. I would have liked to do it more impressively, but that’s not the way it worked out. I still got the W and I’m happy about that.”

Much of the post-UFC 149 discussion has also speculated that Boetsch could be on the sidelines for some time due to a broken foot. The 31 year-old-fighter met with his physicians on Monday, however, and it turns out the injury isn’t as serious as originally thought.

“I knew I had injured my foot in the fight, and certainly thought I had fractured it during the fight, but after getting X-rays and everything, it turns out there’s just a couple of bone chips in there,” said Boetsch, who says he injured his foot early in round two after kicking Lombard’s knee. “The recovery time will be much faster than a full on fracture. The doctors were pretty surprised since the foot is swollen up to the size of a football and is purple.”

“I’d say it’s just a slightly longer recovery time than a normal fight,” Boetsch added. “As soon as the swelling goes down and the pain’s manageable, I believe I’ll be ready to go again.”

 

posted by FCF Staff @ 8:00 am
Have a comment about this story? Please share with us by filling out the fields below.

Comments are closed.