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Mark Munoz has had it rough over the past few months, dealing with injuries and rehab. Now, as he sits and watches the UFC’s middleweight division sort itself out, he believes his take on Hector Lombard has been proven correct.

Munoz previously stated that Lombard was overrated upon entering the UFC because he had not met up with the type of competition the promotion has.

The former Bellator champion has gone just 1-2 in his three Octagon appearances, including a recent loss to Yushin Okami.

“Since Hector Lombard has been in the UFC, he’s been mediocre at best,” said Munoz, during a recent interview with MMA.tv. “Down the road, if it presents itself, yeah, I’d fight Hector Lombard.”

Munoz was defeated in his most recent outing, falling to Chris Weidman. The 35-year-old has fuoght just once since late in 2011 – the Weidman bout – as he suffered a training injury prior to a scheduled meeting with Chael Sonnen.

It was evident that he was off a bit vs. Weidman, as the lengthy time away caused problems. If the Munoz that ran through Aaron Simpson, C.B. Dollaway, Demian Maia and Chris Leben can return, he can easily become a contender again.

Photo credit: Tracy Lee/Yahoo! Sports

Mark Munoz has been out of action for a while, but he’s back. It looks like Munoz will be facing Tim Boetsch. Munoz is currently training with Anderson Silva too.

On the same night when the UFC middleweight title will be on the line, two future championship contenders will square off.

MMAjunkie.com confirmed with sources that Mark Munoz and Tim Boetsch will meet at UFC 162 in July. The event is set to be headlined by Anderson Silva-Chris Weidman for the title.

Munoz (12-3) last fought against Weidman, as he had his four-fight win streak snapped at the hands – or more specifically, the elbow – of “The All-American.”

Boetsch (15-6) is also looking to rebound after having his four-fight win streak halted by Costa Philippou.

The bout is added to previously announced fights between Roger Gracie and Tim Kennedy, and Rafael Cavalcante and Thiago Silva.

Francis Carmont, who is currently riding a nine-fight win streak that includes four consecutive wins inside the Octagon, is shooting for a top contender in his next bout at middleweight.

Carmont took to Twitter recently to make his pitch for a fight at UFC 158 in March. Teammate Georges St-Pierre will be defending his title at the event against Nick Diaz, and the French fighter is hoping to be part of it, as well.

@franciscarmont To start 2013, I’ll wish to make a good fight.Give me the opportunity to fight Munoz or Okami at UFC 158 in Montreal

— Francis Carmont (@franciscarmont) January 5, 2013

Munoz or Okami would be a major leap in terms of the 185-pound rankings for Carmont, who has defeated Tom Lawlor, Karlos Vemola, Magnus Cedenblad and Chris Camozzi since joining the UFC. Of his 20 victories, 10 have come by way of submission, including wins over Vemola and Cedenblad last year.

Munoz is currently rehabbing from an injury that kept him sidelined for the majority of 2012, while Okami defeated Alan Belcher this past December.

Mark Munoz isn’t necessarily trying to put Hector Lombard down when he says the former Bellator champion is not ready to compete for the UFC title.

As far as Munoz is concerned, he’s seen what it takes to become a contender inside the Octagon – and Lombard still needs to prove himself in that arena.

“The Lombard fight makes sense (to me),” said Munoz, during a recent interview with Bleacher Report. “He came into the UFC and got upset with me saying he doesn’t deserve a title shot. He has to win a few times to be considered and he got mad at that. I was just being honest and up front.”

Lombard, who had put together a lengthy unbeaten run, was topped by Tim Boetsch in his debut. Munoz added that he wasn’t trying to be a bad guy, just honest.

“I’ve been in the division and the UFC for over three years and I felt that was the proper order of things. He got upset about the things I said and we’ll see how it turns out,” Munoz said. “We’ll see if our paths cross. If it does – cool, but if not, I won’t be hurt off it either.”

Munoz is coming off a loss to Chris Weidman that came on the heels of an extended break due to an injury. He feels ready to wipe the slate clean in the new year.

“You are going to see a different Mark Munoz in 2013,” the fighter said. “Especially when it comes to a more well-rounded striking game. That has always been my weak link and people know that. Strikign is an area I’ve put a lot of focus on and people are going to see improvements in that aspect of my game.”

Munoz (12-3) had a four-fight win streak snapped with the loss to Weidman. He has gone 7-3 since joining the UFC in 2009 out of the WEC.

Photo credit: Sherdog

Mark Munoz had a 2012 to forget, as the UFC middleweight was defeated by Chris Weidman.

Now, as he continues to rehab from elbow and knee issues, Munoz is focusing on one fight in specific upon his return.

“There are a lot of guys I want to face, but now I can only think of one person: Michael Bisping,” said Munoz, during a recent interview with Tatame. “I want this fight for some time now. He is one of the top fighters in the category and I think a win puts me back in the title race.”

Bisping, however, is currently set to face Vitor Belfort in January. No timetable for a return to action has been assigned to Munoz, who is 12-3 in his MMA career.

Photo credit: Sherdog

Mark Munoz wants everyone to know that he will not be announcing his retirement anytime soon.

Instead, Munoz hopes to resume training in the coming weeks, and hopefully sign up for a fight as soon as possible.

Reports of Munoz suffering a career-ending foot injury were denied by the fighter, who lost to Chris Weidman earlier this year in his return bout from elbow surgery.

“That’s inaccurate, it’s inaccurate,” said Munoz, during an interview with MMAjunkie.com Radio. “I was just talking to somebody inside my gym and he came in and was just hanging out, and unfortunately, he posted something on the Internet. And it just caught on like wildfire.”

Munoz (12-3) made sure to end those rumors of retirement, as well, saying, “I’m not retiring. I’m here to stay. I get down, but I don’t stay down.”

The former standout college wrestler believes he’ll be cleared to resume training from a stress fracture suffered in his foot in “two, actually, three-to-four weeks, or so,” and that he is hoping to sign a fight contract in the near future.

Photo credit: Sherdog

Former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard talked about taking a fight with Mark Munoz after his Octagon debut earlier this year.

At the time, UFC president Dana White seemed uninterested in the bout, as Munoz had just been defeated by Chris Weidman.

However, Lombard was also unsuccessful in his fight, as Tim Boetsch earned the decision win.

Now, it appears Munoz (12-3) is down with taking on the former Olympian Lombard (31-3-1), as he told BJPenn.com recently.

You know, Hector Lombard has been talking a lot about me. So, I don’t mind fighting him. I know he’s upset about what I said about him. I didn’t want to disrespect him at all. I didn’t want to disrespect him. He’s a very good fighter, but if he wants to go, we can go.

Munoz was one of many UFC competitors who didn’t believe in the hype that came with Lombard after he dominated the regional scene for several years.

As for his knockout loss to Weidman, Munoz said, “That fight that I just fought, I kind of took it too early. I was fighting a number of injuries. I don’t want to make any excuses, but he caught me with an elbow as I was just finding my groove.”

Photo credit: Sherdog

Mark Munoz talks about training in Hawaii, his last fight, and his upcoming bout with Lombard.

Give Josh Rosenthal credit. The MMA official admitted he was late in stopping Chris Weidman’s series of punches on Mark Munoz recently.

Weidman delivered an elbow that appeared to knock Munoz out, and followed up with several punches before Rosenthal was able to pull him off.

Now, after watching the fight from his home, Rosenthal admitted to Sirius XM’s TapouT Radio show that he was late in stopping the bout.

I came home and I watched it, and I was kind of like you know, if I was sitting here, watching this on the couch, I probably would have been talking smack about myself. I always say accountability is a huge part of the sport, and you are accountable for your actions. I feel like I was a little show on the trigger.

Rosenthal has been widely-regarded as one of the best referees in the sport along with Herb Dean. He added that, “I don’t want to see guys take unnecessary punishment. I have to step my game up and make sure I’m on point for the next guys.”