Brad Riddell
Wants to fight: Alexander Hernandez
The callout: “Alexander Hernandez hasn’t been talking about me, but he just talks trash in general. He doesn’t shut up. He’s disrespectful to a lot of the fighters. You don’t have to be disrespectful. They’re doing the same thing as you and trying to achieve the same goals.”
The reality: [autotag]Brad Riddell[/autotag] is a man on the up, and his performance to hand Magomed Mustafaev only his second loss in eight years showed he has the grit and battling spirit to go toe to toe with anyone at 155 pounds. After a win over such a tough opponent, it makes sense for Riddell (8-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) to set his sights higher, and [autotag]Alexander Hernandez[/autotag], ranked 15th in the UFC’s official rankings and included in the honorable mentions in the USA Today Sports/MMA Junkie lightweight rankings, seems like a solid callout. Hernandez (11-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC) may not be so keen, however. He bounced back from his loss to Donald Cerrone with a win over the always-tough Francisco Trinaldo, and will have his sights set further up the food chain at 155 pounds. It’s the sort of matchup that would deliver fireworks at the top end of a preliminary card for a numbered pay-per-view event, or even as a main card matchup on a Fight Night event, so it seems viable. But with so many permutations at 155 pounds, it might be one that only comes to fruition if Hernandez reacts to Riddell’s callout in the coming days.
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Next up, let’s check out the co-main event