LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Anthony Hernandez[/autotag] is like many MMA fans.
He doesn’t know what to expect out of opponent [autotag]Michel Pereira[/autotag] come fight night, nor does it bother him.
Despite being one of the highest-ranked middleweights in the world, Hernandez (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) is largely unplugged from the MMA scene. He has a low-key social media presence and doesn’t research the odds or other divisional happenings.
Sure, he knows Pereira (31-11 MMA, 9-2 UFC) does backflips and leaps off the cage. But Hernandez isn’t interested in predicting the unpredictable.
“I don’t know, and I really respectfully don’t care,” Hernandez told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a UFC Fight Night 245 pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “I’m just going to kind of go out there and do what I do. I really don’t give a f*ck what he has to offer because I’m focused on what I’m going to do great. That’s as simple as that. That’s kind of how I keep things mentally for myself.”
Hernandez laid out a very simplistic read of the fight – the things he felt he knew for sure. The difference, he thinks, lies in the cardio.
“It’s hard to say because Pereira in the third round, respectfully, he looks like sh*t,” Hernandez said. “He’s wild as f*ck. He can catch you and knock you the f*ck out. So it’s not like, ‘Oh sh*t.’ But I think that if everything goes right and my hands are up, I think I finish him just because of the way he finishes and the way I don’t gas. Stylistically, seeing it on paper is perfect for me. But now, it’s just go do it.”
“… He’s a hard guy to f*cking judge. I don’t even think he knows what he’s doing. I think he even mentioned that he kind of sees it and goes. But yeah, for sure. It’s like jogging and sprinting. He’s sprinting all the time when he’s doing all that crazy sh*t. That sh*t takes hella energy. His last two fights he came out calm and collected, so I’d expect him to come out calm and collected. That would definitely help his gas tank, for sure.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 245.