Hector Lombard repeatedly told MMAjunkie Radio that he has no relationship with Tyron Woodley that would keep the two of them from fighting as the UFC requested.

Despite sharing gym space with Woodley (14-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) at Florida’s American Top Team, Lombard (34-4-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) said he has no trouble accepting the proposed matchup.

“We’re not friends,” he said. “He just comes to use the gym. He doesn’t even live here. It’s not a difficult decision at all.”

Lombard added it would be “a dream come true” to fight in Las Vegas on Jan. 3 at UFC 181. At the time of his interview, he said he still needed doctor clearance for a herniated disc that forced him to withdraw from UFC Fight Night 48, but an ATT rep on Wednesday told MMAjunkie he is ready to go.

“It’s been serious,” Lombard said. “I don’t back up for any fight, but (I had) a herniated disk at the highest level. I have all the proof and the X-rays, so yes, it was very serious.”

Woodley stepped in for Lombard at the event this past month in Macau and knocked out Dong Hyun Kim in 61 seconds. In a recent interview, UFC President Dana White said Woodley declined to accept a bout with Lombard.

Woodley has yet to publicly respond to White’s comments. In a previous interview with MMAjunkie Radio, he said he wanted to fight standout Matt Brown and made a case for the matchup despite Brown’s recent loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC on FOX 12.

“That doesn’t make sense anyway,” said Lombard. “I’m going to make him be the next Dana White. Is that fair? I don’t think that’s fair at all. You’ve got to do what the company wants you to do. I understand that once you get injured, there’s no way you can fight. Whoever you have to fight, you have to fight. Period.

“The company is so strong because it is what they tell you to do, not because it’s like, ‘Hey, lemme fight in Australia, and I’m going to fight so-and-so.’ What a beauty. ‘Lemme fight over there, and I don’t want to fight three rounds; I want to fight two rounds, and let’s see how it goes.’ That’s not the way it goes.”

Woodley’s relationship with ATT, with whom he trains for fights, was immediately pointed out by MMA observers as a potential stumbling block, but Lombard said the fighter isn’t fully a member of the gym.

“Training partners are the ones that train with you full-time, all year-round,” he said. “They help you on other fights, fights that you have with someone else. That’s a training partner. A training partner is a person that lives in your camp.

“Like Robbie (Lawler), he moved all his family, his wife, everyone, and now he lives here. If you live in Mississippi or whatever and you just come when your training comes and use the trainers and the trainers help you to go for your stuff, and you leave, I don’t know.”

Earlier this year, Lombard said he wouldn’t fight Lawler as a group of welterweight standouts vied for the title left vacant by the semi-retired Georges St-Pierre.

Woodley owns and works out of a gym in the St. Louis area, but frequently travels to ATT and wears the gym’s patch on his fight shorts.

Asked whether their relationship might change if Woodley moved Florida, Lombard indicated that it might.

“Being away, I wouldn’t call myself fully (a team member),” he said. “I mean, yes, you learn everything from us. But you don’t call yourself fully (an American Top Team fighter).”

As long as they’re separated by geography, Lombard said he’ll fight Woodley.

“I’ll be more than ready, and I’ll say again: We ain’t friends,” he said.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.