Hector Lombard hasn’t seen the Octagon since his impressive performance against Jake Shields at UFC 171 back in March. After that it was announced that Lombard would fight Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Macao, however Lombard was forced off the card with a severely herniated disk in his neck.

Lombard spoke with MMAJunkie to talk about the timetable for his return.

“I was scared. At first, I thought my career was gone. And then second, I was worried about my health.”

Lombard wasn’t the only one worried, the same injury forced his teammate Mike Brown to retire from MMA. His coach Marcus Silveira expressed his initial worry for ‘Showeather’ but explained why Lombard will return from the injury.

“We were worried because even if you’re the brightest star as a fighter, that will pass,” Silveira said. “We want them to have a healthy life, a good life, when that’s over. But I don’t think this will stop Hector. I think it’s going to be a positive for him. It will make him take some time to take care of the injury.”