UFC 149 results: Hector Lombard loses, Dana White's 'crazy' middleweight plan vanishes

The cat remained in the bag last night (July 21, 2012), even though Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White vowed to let it out once the curtain dropped on UFC 149: "Faber vs. Barao" from the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Most likely, Hector Lombard is somehow to blame after turning in a disappointing performance in his Octagon debut, dropping a lackluster split decision to Tim Boetsch. He had an incredible amount of hype behind him and lofty expectations to live up to, with many mixed martial arts (MMA) fans predicting that a dominant win would earn him a 185-pound title shot against division champion Anderson Silva in the near future.

Perhaps they were onto something.

That's because White didn't provide any clarity or answers about the the next possible contender at the UFC 149 press conference. Sure, he was "embarrassed" and upset about the pay-per-view (PPV) main card, but he completely side-stepped the issue, which he himself created just days earlier.

And when pressed, he simply took the most obvious choice available at the moment:

"This is one of those things. [Lombard] was on a 25-fight win streak, a lot fo hype behind him, people have been talking about him forever. Guys that fight in other organizations end up in top 10 rankings, but it's a whole 'nother world over here.... Nothing involves Anderson Silva right now. If I had to right now make a fight for Anderson because Anderson wants to fight in two months, I'd do the Chris Weidman fight. I haven't talked to [Anderson] yet. He does want to fight, he's ready to go again, but I haven't talked to him yet so we'll see what happens."

That's quite the about-face, considering that there are indeed numerous "fun" options from which to choose. In a moment of blind enthusiasm, I even suggested that a Middleweight tournament could be in works that would include Weidman, Boetsch, Michael Bisping, Brian Stann, Vitor Belfort and Alan Belcher.

Shame on me for dreaming big. It was too good to be true, much like all of the other "big announcements" White teases that never seem to amount to much.

White did mention that he is headed back to Las Vegas, Nevada, to participate in an executive meeting to figure stuff out on Monday morning. It's safe to assume that Silva and his next opponent will be on the agenda, but just don't expect to hear any "crazy shit."

That ghost ship already set sail once again.