Michel Pereira had Anthony Hernandez in terrible trouble for about 30 seconds, but it was the only time “Fluffy” had anything to worry about. Hernandez smothered, overwhelmed and pummeled Pereira for nearly 25 minutes at UFC Fight Night on Saturday.
Hernandez weaponized his renowned cardio to set multiple UFC records. “Fluffy” set new middleweight records for ground strikes landed (97) and takedowns attempted (29), while setting a personal best for total (219) and significant (152) strikes. The accomplishment best illustrating Hernandez’s dominance is the middleweight record for the largest strike differential between opponents (219 to 29). Hernandez snapped the 18-year record held by Rich Franklin in his UFC title defense against David Loiseau.
Pereira’s explosiveness nearly spelled doom for Hernandez in Round 1. The capoeira specialist landed a front body kick that forced Hernandez into retreat. Pereira followed through with crushing head and body strikes but Hernandez endured.
“Oh shit, this motherf—er is strong, strong!” Hernandez said post-fight while reflecting on the strike he took.
From there, Hernandez chipped at Pereira’s gas tank with relentless takedown attempts and dirty boxing. Hernandez wasn’t immediately successful but his persistence paid off as Pereira started fatiguing.
Pereira’s corner twice reminded him what round he was in and begged him for a knockout. Unfortunately, Pereira was too fatigued to offer resistance. Hernandez finally drew the stoppage in Round 5 with a splitting elbow and ground strikes. Pereira’s eyebrow gruesomely folded towards his eye as referee Herb Dean a TKO finish.
Hernandez, currently ranked No. 13 in the UFC’s official middleweight rankings, called for a title eliminator next. Hernandez (13-2, 1 NC) improved to six straight wins with five stoppages. Pereira (31-12, 2 NC) was stopped for only the second time in his career and saw his eight-fight winning streak end.
