Shortly after his hard-fought triumph against Brendan
Allen in the UFC
Seattle co-headliner, Anthony
Hernandez alluded to struggling with some illness-related
issues leading up to the bout.
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“I plan on getting better for the next one,” Hernandez told
Michael
Bisping in the Octagon. “I’m sorry about the performance. I
just finished my antibiotics yesterday. I was sick as f—k. But I
came here and I made the s—t happen. Hope you guys enjoyed the
show.”
“Fluffy” was able to elaborate on what he was dealing with during
Saturday’s post-fight press conference, while also revealing some
additional injury issues that hindered his performance.
“Let’s just say I got off amoxicillin Friday,” Hernandez said. “I
felt like s–t, and I’m not going to lie: I messed up my ribs two
weeks ago. My ribs were f—ed before. It was just thank God for
the [UFC Performance Institute]. They were here and they helped me
every f—ing day. We got it to be good enough for the fight and
went out there and made it happen.”
That medication also made Hernandez’s weight cut more
challenging.
“Dude, the f—ing pills. The amoxicillin was holding weight,” he
said. “I talked to the PI people, too, and they said the same
thing. When you’re on antibiotics it’s very hard to cut weight.
While my body was trying to recover, I’m trying to deplete it. It
was just a nightmare, but I’m pretty f—ing tough between the ears
and made it happen.”
Despite those issues, Hernandez was able to outgrapple and
outscramble Allen to extend his UFC winning streak at 185 pounds to
seven. It was the second victory for Hernandez against Allen after
previously besting “All In” via unanimous decision in a title bout
under the Legacy Fighting Alliance banner in 2018.
“He’s still really f—ing good, tough motherf—er. He’s exactly
who I thought he was going to be, who the coaches thought he was
going to be,” Hernandez said. “My hat’s off to Brendan Allen. I’ve
got so much love for the guy. I told him, Bro, ‘Can we quit f—ing
fighting?’ If we’re going to fight again, I hope it’s for a f—ing
belt because I really do like the guy.”
With recent victories over Allen, Michel
Pereira and Roman
Kopylov on his ledger, Hernandez is rising up the ranks of
contenders in the UFC’s middleweight division. Still, “Fluffy” has
only one goal in mind.
“It’s a blessing, but at the same time, I’m still not happy because
the only thing I want is the damn belt,” Hernandez said. “All this
other s–t doesn’t really matter to me. It’s like, all right, cool:
We did it. But I expected to do this. It’s just like I was telling
the coaches: It’s back to work on Monday. I’ll be in the gym.”
When it comes to his next opponent, Hernandez is only interested in
facing an opponent who gets him closer to that goal.
“ Honestly, I don’t really give a f–k. Give me somebody who is
going to prove that I’m ready for a title shot. Anyone from [No.] 5
up, I’d love to fight,” he said.