A day before the official announcement, the
Ultimate Fighting Championship is shifting things around for
its card at the Sphere.
On Friday,
MMA Fighting first reported that Michel Pereira (31-11, 2 NC)
vs. Anthony Hernandez (12-2, 1 NC) would no longer be taking place
at UFC 306—which will have all 10 of its bouts set in stone on
Saturday. Instead, for currently undisclosed reasons, the
middleweights will do battle a month later at the main attraction
of a newly announced
UFC Fight Night show on Oct. 19. They are expected to compete
for five rounds inside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “Fluffy” has
since confirmed the rescheduled booking on his Instagram
Stories, while remarking that it would be taking place around
his birthday of Oct. 18.
The high-flying Pereira will come into this pairing on an
eight-fight win streak, as the victor of three in a row since
relocating himself to the 185-pound division. At this new weight
class, the Brazilian has dispatched three foes of Andre
Petroski, Michal
Oleksiejczuk and Ihor
Potieria in a combined 3:01. Before run of first-round
stoppages, “Demolidor” needed the judges to pick up the victory in
four of five, claiming wins over names including Santiago
Ponzinibbio and Niko
Price.
California’s Hernandez has prevailed in every fight since 2021,
recording four stoppages and a decision over Josh Fremd
along the way. This includes a tapout of Roman
Kopylov, a knockout of Edmen
Shahbazyan and the first submission defeat for ADCC grappling
legend Rodolfo
Vieira at UFC 258. The man known as “Fluffy” has earned 83% of
his pro wins inside the distance, while never coming up short on
the scorecards.