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For one reason or another Bellator’s middleweight champ, Hector Lombard, has always flown under the radar, but if he has his way, that won’t be the case for long. He wants a fight with Dan Henderson in Strikeforce and he isn’t shy in letting the world know about it.

“I would sign that contract today. Dan Henderson is a great fighter and a legend in the sport, but I know I have the skills to beat him…U.S. fans have only seen a little of my abilities. Fighting and beating Dan Henderson would let me show the world what I’m capable of…I look forward to hearing something from Strikeforce. I know they want to put on a great show on such a big stage, and I promise I can give that to them…I want Dan Henderson – period.”

The good news for Lombard is Bellator has given their blessing to pursue the fight while he awaits his first title defense. The bad news is Dan Henderson already has fights with Jake Shields, Gegard Mousasi and possibly even Fedor Emelianenko on the horizon. Even if those fell through, there’s plenty of other match-ups in Strikeforce for Hendo. At the moment, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Strikeforce is willing to give a relatively unknown fighter a shot at one of their marquee fighters without the ability to promote him before or after the bout.

Having said that and no offense to Bellator, but Lombard along with Eddie Alvarez really should be in the UFC or Strikeforce. They’re both explosive, a threat to anyone they face and deserve to fight on a much bigger stage in the US than they have in the past. At this point of their careers, they should be fighting the top fighters in their respective weight divisions, and thus far Bellator hasn’t proved they can provide them with that level of competition.

We all know the problem Strikeforce has with Gegard Mousasi. They don’t have any good opponents for him.

Another big Bellator knockout and season finale recap after the jump.

Bellator’s inaugural season came to a close last night. Eddie Alvarez and Toby Imada battled it out for the lightweight title, while Hector Lombard and Jared Hess fought for the middleweight strap.

Full results after the jump.

Monroe, Louisiana – May 30, 2009 – In front of an electrified and vocal crowd in Monroe, Louisiana, Hector Lombard and Jared Hess put on dominating performances to earn their way to the first ever Bellator Middleweight world championship. Opening the semi-final action was the Cuban Olympian and knockout artist Hector “Shango” Lombard taking on Army Ranger and combatives expert Damien Stelly.  Out of the gates both fighters let punches fly with a go-for-broke start that ended with Lombard mounting Stelly and implementing a ground and pound strategy that eventually resulted in a referee stoppage. While Stelly fought gallantly, he wasn’t able to break free from Lombard’s mount and the referee stopped the fight via TKO with the ultra tough Hector Lombard moving onto the finals in under three minutes.

Recently, we had the opportunity to speak at length with Army Ranger turned professional mixed martial artist Damien Stelly about everything from his tours in Afghanistan to his career in the cage to why he twice turned down the opportunity to fight in the UFC.

Currently, Stelly is competing in Bellator’s middleweight tournament, and earned himself a spot in the semi-finals with his victory over Alex Andrade at Bellator III. He won’t have an easy road to the finals though.

In the interview, Stelly informed us that he is scheduled to face tournament favorite Hector Lombard at Bellator IX on May 29 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, possibly in the night’s main event. We later confirmed the news with Bellator.

A win would certainly be a huge feather in Stelly’s cap. In Lombard’s 22 professional MMA fights, his only two losses were against Akihiro Gono and Gegard Mousasi, and in some circles is considered to be the best middleweight in the world no one knows about. While the vast majority of fight fans may not be too familiar with Lombard, Stelly isn’t one of them. He knows exactly who he’s getting in the cage with.

“Oh yeah, he’s like dynamite,” said Stelly. “He’s a small package but he’s explosive. So I’m gonna be careful and not let him capitalize with his explosiveness and his quickness. I’m working with some southpaws trying to get me ready because he’s a very good boxer. Even though Hector’s an Olympic Judo guy, his boxing is up there with professional boxers. He’s fast. He’s dynamic. That’s the best way that I can describe him.”

Be sure to check back the week leading up their fight to read our exclusive interview with Damien Stelly.

Ed note: Thanks to Mark Dorsey who conducted the interview and contributed to this report.

Sam Caplan of Five Oz. published a report earlier today convering the latest additions and possible subtractions to the EliteXC/Showtime Nov. 8 fight card.