Anthony Hernandez completely dominated his fight against Michel Pereira tonight at UFC Fight Night 245 with his pressure-striking, relentless takedown attempts and ground-and-pound, leading him to a 5th round TKO stoppage win.
Round One:
The middleweight main event is underway in Las Vegas!
Double jab lands for Pereira and follows up with a right hand that misses. Front kick to the midsection from Pereira might have hurt Hernandez.
Pereira closes in and unleashes a flurry as ‘Fluffy’ opts to counter with a takedown. Pereira fends that off though.
Another combination from Pereira and Hernandez seemed to wince when a strike landed to the body.
Hernandez clinches up, but not for long. Hernandez pressing forward now. He tries a spinning head kick that doesn’t land.
Spinning heel kick to the calf from Hernandez. Pereira clinches and then backs off. Hernandez tries that low spinning kick again but it doesn’t pay off this time.
Hernandez with a takedown but almost pulls Pereira down on top of him. Pereira holds his ground though and stays upright.
Back to striking range. Body punch for Pereira. He goes for the thai clinch and lands a couple of knees before they separate.
Body punches from Hernandez. Short flurry from him and then tries for a takedown against the cage. Pereira defends it though. Double leg with a trip gets Pereira down. He’s now in half-guard in the final 30 seconds. Elbow for him. He stands over Pereira now and looks for more strikes as he goes back down.
Round Two:
Jab from Hernandez into a takedown attempt, but Pereira defends it. Hernandez with an eyepoke but Pereira soon recovers.
Spinning heel kick to the calf again from Hernandez. Pressure from Hernandez as he looks to strike and then get into takedown attempts. Pereira stops this latest attempt though.
Fluffy in for a takedown again and this time Pereira goes for a guillotine choke. He goes to the mat with it and there’s a scramble. Hernandez does well to get free of that and end up on top.
Elbow strikes from half-guard for Hernandez. Fluffy progresses into full mount and then takes the back. Now an arm-triangle choke attempt from him, but Pereira did very well to explode out of that. Back upright they go in the clinch.
Now to striking range. Hernandez punches to the body and then lands a double-leg. He’s pushing a hard pace here. Pereira gets to a knee and then stands. Fluffy slams him back down to the mat.
Half-guard for Hernandez and lands punches. Fluffy goes for a guillotine choke. Back to striing. Now to the guillotine again, gives up on it and lands a knee to the chest. Pereira goes to his knees. Hernandez with a hard right hand. More strikes drop down as Pereira goes to his back. A few elbows land before the round ends.
Round Three:
Pereira’s corner urging him to just try to recover his energy this round as his cardio gets tested heavily by Fluffy so far.
Hernandez is right back to going for a takedown at the start of the round. He goes down but gets back up. Hernandez remains in the clinch. Now he’s landing punches in close. Pereira gets away from the cage. Hernandez soon brings him back there though.
Hernandez with an uppercut from the clinch and Pereira lands a knee. Up against the cage Hernandez dumps him to the mat again.
Hernandez drops down an elbow. Now a series of punches land. A few more punches and an elbow connect. Another elbow. Hernandez in side control now and then into mount.
Back to standing over his opponent now, then half-guard. Now he thinks about taking the back. He’s trying for a choke. Pereira rolls to his knees and is covering up. Elbows to the side from Fluffy as he keeps Pereira in this turtled up position.
More elbows to the body. Late in the round he postures up to land a few solid punches and then elbows again.
Round Four:
Body punch into the clinch from Hernandez. He goes for a double-leg against the cage but Pereira defends it.
left and a right hand from Hernandez, but Pereira throws a big knee in response. Now Hernandez does manage to get a takedown up against the cage.
Punches and an elbow land. Pereira kicks him off but he goes straight back in. Pereira gets to his knees and stands. Hernandez still clinched to his back and drags him down.
Short elbows for Hernandez. Pereira back on his knees and trying to stand but Fluffy staying tight on him. Pereira does stand and gets an elbow for his troubles.
Another takedown for Hernandez and lands in half-guard. Just one-way traffic here. Hammerfists landing for Fluffy. A couple of good left hands land.
Ref urging Pereira to fight back. To is credit he manages to stand. Spinning elbow lands for Hernandez. Back to striking range now and it’s Pereira who goes for a very tired looking takedown that fails and leaves him looking completely spent.
Round Five:
Punch and takedown attempt from Hernandez. He manages to trip him to the mat but he gets back up against the cage.
They break free and Hernandez lands a combination then brings Pereira back down. An elbow lands from half-guard. Another elbow drops down and opens up a gnarly cut to the right eyebrow.
Hernandez tries to pass to mount, but Pereira denies that. Hernandez with a series of elbow strikes and that’s it, the ref’s seen enough and ends the fight, handing Hernandez a well-earned TKO victory at 2.22mins of Rd2.
