North Californian native Anthony Hernandez will look to make a splash on home soil when he faces Gregory Rodrigues in the middleweight main event of a UFC Fight Night at the Golden 1 Centre in Sacramento. Main card set to commence at 2am CAT on the morning of Sunday 23 August.
Hernandez (15-3, 1 NC) will be looking to bounce back from a TKO defeat at the hands of Sean Strickland (who has since become a two-time champion in the middleweight division) back in February.
Prior to that defeat, the 32-year-old “Fluffy” had put together an eight-match winning streak and placed himself firmly in the title picture.
"It took like six years for me to get a loss again," Hernandez noted. "I just take that as a lesson. I'm actually putting in camp with Sean and I've been fighting him every Tuesday. I'm just doing everything I can to get better."
Fighting in the region he grew up in has Hernandez buzzing: “I haven't fought here in so long. I'm excited that they chose me to be the one to bring it back."
He added, “Half my town is coming already. I'm just super grateful for this opportunity, and I'm going to make the most of it."
Rodrigues (19-6) enters the match on a three-win streak, most recently knocking out Brunno Ferreira in March. The 34-year-old Brazilian, nicknamed “Robocop”, called out this exact match-up after his last trip to the Octagon.
“I want to fight probably in the top fives. I want one of the top fives. Maybe Anthony Hernandez, that was one good name, a good match,” said Rodrigues.
The rest of the main card features Serghei Spivac v Vitor Petrino for a heavyweight bout in the co-main event; Reinier De Ridder moves up to light heavyweight and takes on Roman Dolidze; a lightweight match pits Marquel Mederos against Mason Jones; Carli Judice faces Jeisla Chaves in the women’s flyweight division; and a heavyweight opener sees Nigeria’s Kennedy Nzechukwu take on Shamil Gaziev.
UFC Fight Night: Hernandez v Rodrigues – Main card
Main event: Middleweight: Anthony Hernandez v Gregory Rodrigues
Co-main: Heavyweight: Serghei Spivac v Vitor Petrino
Light Heavyweight: Reinier De Ridder v Roman Dolidze
Lightweight: Marquel Mederos v Mason Jones
Women’s Flyweight: Carli Judice v Jeisla Chaves
Heavyweight: Kennedy Nzechukwu v Shamil Gaziev