‘Fluffy’ has written his name into the history books for a skillset that he isn’t particularly passionate about.
At UFC Seattle this past weekend, Anthony Hernandez beat Brendan Allen for a second time to extend his current winning streak to seven in the middleweight division.
The 31-year-old has proven himself to be a very effective grappler in the past with Hernandez having four submissions wins to his name inside the Octagon.
When combined with his relentless cardio that helped Hernandez set a striking record against Michel Pereira in October, he’s becoming a difficult problem to solve.
Whilst he was losing the battle on the feet at the Climate Pledge Arena on February 22, his ability to take the fight to the floor and keep it there earned him a unanimous decision win after all three judges gave him rounds two and three.
Anthony Hernandez admits he still doesn’t like wrestling after breaking middleweight takedown record
With one middleweight record already under his belt, Anthony Hernandez claimed another on Saturday night.
The key to his latest win was once again his grappling with ‘Fluffy’ recording four takedowns with 10:22 of control time according to UFC Stats.
In just 10 UFC fights, he has produced 45 takedowns which is now the most in 185-pound history, overtaking the previous holder, former champion Chris Weidman who recently departed the promotion.
Whilst this is the lowest number of any male division by quite some distance, (light heavyweight is the second lowest with Tito Ortiz at 58) it’s great evidence of Hernandez’s constant pace and pressure which he has used effectively against Brendan Allen twice in their careers.
What this record hasn’t changed is his opinions on wrestling as he revealed in his post-fight press conference after beating his first top 10 contender.
‘Fluffy’ said that whilst his stance remains the same, he is proud of this stat for several reasons.
“No, I still don’t but my coaches make it very fun and they’ve helped me a lot. No honestly, it kind of warms my heart a little bit because my dad was a wrestler so it just comes back to that. It’s a f—— blessing that I’m getting noticed for great wrestling when in school, I got kicked off for grades maybe like half a semester in wrestling.”
Anthony Hernandez wants to prove himself against top opposition
Anthony Hernandez said ahead of Fight Night in Seattle that he has been frustrated after feeling like he’s on the verge of cracking the top 10 for some time now.
His win over the #9-ranked Brendan Allen should finally see him enter that bracket and now ‘Fluffy’ wants an opponent that he can use to prove that he is championship caliber.
With the top 6 seemingly being in their own little bracket around the title picture right now, there is still some interesting options for Hernandez.
Former title challenger Jared Cannonier bounced back into the win column last weekend and the #8-ranked Marvin Vettori is set to make his return against the #10-ranked Roman Dolidze in just a few weeks time with all three being potential matchups for Hernandez in the near future.