Fernandez Fights Pergentino: Light Work or Heavy Lifting?
Luke Fernandez is set to face Rafael Pergentino in the Contender Series on October 7th at 8:00 p.m. EST. This fight will be more of a premier event for both fighters in the Light Heavyweight Division. The fight looks to be evenly matched as well, given that both fighters have a solid five-fight win streak. Luke has even had title fights in his time with the UFC and won three, leading to more experience in that regard than his opponent. Rafael has only won one during his time in the UFC, though.
Both fighters are orthodox in their stance and may find that standing will be an even ground for the fight could stall at. It is likely that Luke could wear his opponent down during this time, but if he gets too close to Rafael, it is likely he could fall prey to the ground game that Pergentino has developed. Rafael himself has secured three of his last fights by taking them to the ground, where he secured victory through a rear-naked choke as well as simple ground and pounding until the fight was called. Luke, on the other hand, hasn’t put himself in that position and maintained solid KO/TKOs by landing solid punches as well as hooks to finish his past fights.
This is where the heavy work could come in, as Fernandez, on average, goes almost all five rounds of his past fights where they have gone to decision. Choosing to do so for this particular opponent would be giving more time for Rafael to set up a takedown to counter Luke’s heavy hands. However, at the same time, Rafael plans a takedown, Luke could be landing powerful blows to distract him while keeping distance to avoid a clinch. If the fighters want to progress further and make it to a big title card event like UFC 320, this fight will be a great launchpad to do so, as the Contender Series allows more of these debuts to increase a fighter’s standing within UFC. Luke needs to make light work, though overall, because Rafael will be gunning to take him down before the match is over, as he has closed all of his fights before round three has even begun. Maybe it will be light work, though, but ultimately tune in to see and track these future fighters’ careers!
