Anthony Hernandez proposed creating a middleweight BMF championship. He might be onto something. “Fluffy” Hernandez looked like the baddest man at 185 pounds after battering Roman Dolidze at UFC Fight Night on Saturday.
Hernandez has a reputation for breaking people. Dolidze was not exempt from that fate. Hernandez walked down Dolidze from the first bell: landing strikes, throwing him to the floor and taunting him. Dolidze’s power and grappling did nothing to deter Hernandez. Dolidze’s power kept him competitive in Round 1, but his stamina plummeted under Hernandez’s sustained pressure.
Hernandez unleashed a hailstorm of ground punches in the final seconds of Round 2. Referee Herb Dean intervened once the round ended, but both parties thought the fight was over. Hernandez, focused on his mission, did not protest the call. He stopped celebrating and started receiving coaching.
Dolidze’s waning resistance ran out in Round 4 as Hernandez locked up a rear-naked choke submission. Hernandez became the first man to stop Dolidze in nearly 20 fights, a feat that not even Nassourdine Imavov — the No. 1-ranked middleweight who knocked out Israel Adesanya — has managed.
“Fluffy” is one of UFC’s most underappreciated success stories. Hernandez lost two of his first three UFC fights before embarking on an eight-fight win streak. The first hint of his rebellious new fighting style came after he submitted Rodolfo Vieira, regarded as arguably the greatest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu heavyweight of his generation.
Hernandez’s rise has been disrespectfully slow. Before Saturday, no middleweight needed more than seven consecutive wins to challenge for the UFC title. Against Dolidze (No. 9), Hernandez was only afforded the chance to fight someone ranked one spot above him. By contrast, Reinier de Ridder is a top-five middleweight after beating Robert Whittaker in his fourth UFC appearance.
“I want a title shot. What the f— do I have to do?” Hernandez said in his post-fight interview. “Give me the title shot and I promise I’ll be the next champ.
“I want a belt. I want something to prove I’m the best fighter in the world.”
