Earlier tonight at UFC Sacramento, Anthony Hernandez failed to return to winning ways against the 34-year-old Gregory Rodrigues.
As the UFC Sacramento headliner commenced, Hernandez wanted to take the bout to the ground right away. He shot for 7 takedowns in the first frame, but Rodrigues’ takedown defense was on point.
Both fighters engaged in brief striking exchanges and also stunned each other a couple of times. “Fluffy” also opened a cut above Rodrigues’ left eye with a well-timed uppercut.
Round 2 was all Rodrigues, who dropped Hernandez several times with calf kicks and also landed some massive shots. A wounded “Fluffy” fighting with a destroyed lead leg still managed to stun Rodrigues in the final seconds of the round with a perfectly timed one-two while pushing him toward the fence. The American also scored a takedown in the final seconds of the second stanza.
10 seconds into the third round, Hernandez got an immediate takedown, took the Brazilian’s back, and tried to sink in a rare naked choke. Once Rodrigues managed to stand up, “Fluffy” stunned him with a big right hand. For the rest of the three rounds, the 32-year-old kept a gassed-out “Robocop” along the fence.
In Round 4, Rodrigues picked up the pace and began to turn the tide in his favor. Both middleweights decided to stand and trade in the center, during which Rodrigues stunned Hernandez with a couple of head strikes and began walking “Fluffy” down while hurting him nonstop with combos and kicks to the midsection.
Hernandez decided to slow things down to survive the stanza and, in the final second of R4, scored a takedown.
Round 5 did not feature a ton of action. Anthony Hernandez spent most of the round attempting to take “Robocop” down, but the Brazilian defended well. Hernandez still landed some heavy elbows, but later in the round, Rodrigues dropped him again by chopping his lead leg. He then kept Hernandez from escaping until the final bell.
Official decison: Gregory Rodrigues defeated Anthony Hernandez via unanimous decision (48-47, 49-46, 48-47)
After getting his hand raised at UFC Sacramento, Gregory Rodrigues called out former middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis.
UFC Sacramento: Anthony Hernandez vs. Gregory Rodrigues – Highlights
