Jason Lambert – The New and Improved ‘Punisher’By Thomas Gerbasi


in 2001 and started battling it out with the big boys, he found out that more often than not, he was able to not only hold his own, but win.

Then came April of 2002 and a 16 man tournament in Hawaii. Lambert won his first two bouts, one by decision and one via submission with one second left in the final round. His next foe – a 6 foot 8 giant who would go on to win the UFC heavyweight title twice, Tim Sylvia.

“I had already fought two full fights, and fighting Tim Sylvia in a tournament or in a single fight is a tall order for my frame,” said Lambert of this David vs Goliath matchup. “I was pretty weathered, but I just went in there and gave it my all. I almost went the distance, but my ear was split open really bad and I was bleeding all over the place, so the ref stopped it with like 30 seconds left. He was up on the scorecards, but I would have been the only one to go the distance with him in that tournament.”

Lambert lost that night, but his spirit wasn’t broken, and he was back in action at heavyweight less than two months later, pounding out a first round win over somebody named Lobo Lobo. Eventually, ‘The Punisher’ would move down to light heavyweight, and by 2005 he was in the midst of a five fight winning streak (including wins over Matt Horwich, Marvin Eastman, and Travis Wiuff) that earned him an invitation to the UFC. And he made the most of his debut, submitting Rob MacDonald in less than two minutes.