Anthony Hernandez's Quiet Rise to the Top of the Middleweight Division
Anthony Hernandez is the man many MMA fans considered the dark horse of the Middleweight Division, but may no longer be a dark horse. Hernandez entered last night's bout with Roman Dolidze riding the highs of a seven-fight win streak. Dolidze, a seemingly permanent member of the Middleweight top 10, would serve as Hernandez's biggest test yet. However, Dolidze would be suffocated under Hernandez's insane pace and pressure for four rounds before being finished by submission. Hernandez's beatdown of Dolidze proved one thing: ‘Fluffy’ is officially a serious contender.
Seven years ago, Hernandez made his UFC debut. Undefeated in the sport at the time, Hernandez would quickly lose his perfect record to Markus Perez by submission. In 2019, Hernandez would pick up his first UFC win with a nice submission victory against JunYong Park. A brutal knockout loss to Kevin Holland in his next fight would provide yet another setback to the promising prospect. Hernandez's mediocre 1-2-1 start to the UFC would certainly tank his stock, but ‘Fluffy’ would soon prove his worth.
Bad starts in the UFC, while unfortunate, are not career-enders. Current UFC Bantamweight Champion, and the fighter stylistically closest to Hernandez, Merab Dvalishvili, infamously started his UFC career with a 0-2 record before his historic 13-fight win streak. Akin to Dvalishvili, Hernandez has not tasted defeat since his bout with Holland. Hernandez is on the best run of his career. Being in the midst of an eight-fight win streak, with wins over Roman Kopylov, Michel Pereira, Brendan Allen, and now Dolidze and Hernandez, seems to be only one fight away from a Middleweight Championship opportunity.
In the Middleweight Division, there is a clear skill gap separating the top five from the rest of the ranked fighters. With fighters such as Dricus Du Plessis, Khamzat Chimaev, Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, and Nassourdine Imavov holding strong at the top of the weight class, there are no easy fights left for ‘Fluffy’. There are not many opponents open for Hernandez at the moment, as most of the top five already have fights booked. However, former UFC Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland is available. A win over Strickland would not only propel Hernandez to a title shot but also into stardom.
