Anthony Hernandez made his case for a championship opportunity a week before the middleweight title goes up for grabs, strangling Roman Dolidze in the fourth round of what was a one-sided mauling to close out Saturday's event at the UFC APEX.
“Fluffy” was in the Georgian’s face from Jump Street, leaving him struggling to deal with the pace and pressure coming his way very early on. As the fight progressed, it only got worse for Dolidze who had no answers and no responses for the high output, suffocating attack of the Northern California standout.
When the bout hit the championship rounds, Hernandez upped the ante even more, ratcheting up his intensity and viciousness. The finishing sequence commenced with Hernandez levelling Dolidze with knees along the fence before dragging the him to his feet by the hook-free choke, forcing him to tap.
While this victory may not earn Hernandez a date with the winner of next week’s championship pairing between Dricus du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev, it has to put him on the short list of potential challengers for the winner. He’s logged eight straight victories and absolutely ran roughshod over Dolidze in this one, which is something no one else has come close to doing over the course of his UFC career.
There are a few more key matchups already on the books in the coming months — Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho headline Paris, Jared Cannonier faces Michael “Venom” Page next weekend — and Reinier de Ridder recently made his case for contention by beating Robert Whittaker, so it will be interesting to see how everything gets lined up once the smoke clears.
Whatever happens, this performance should land Hernandez a considerable step up in competition and a chance to continue trying to prove he’s the best in the division.
The importance of ecosystem fighters
Andre Fili earned a hard-fought split decision win over Christian Rodriguez in the middle of Saturday’s main card, leaning on his counter striking and timely takedowns to get the nod on two of the three scorecards and get himself moving in the right direction again.
Now 35 years old and 25 fights into his UFC career, the proud new dad has settled into place as a fixture in the “Second 15” in the talent-rich featherweight division, serving as an outstanding litmus test for ascending competitors and a consistently entertaining fighter every time he makes the walk.
Though he never reached title contention, Fili and fighters of his ilk are crucial to keeping divisions moving and thriving, and shouldn’t be judged based solely on wins, losses, and how high up the rankings they climbed.
Unlike team sports where rosters are deep and rotational players can carve out a niche for themselves, enjoying a 10-plus year career on the biggest stage in the sport (with 25 fights or more) is difficult, and Fili has managed to pass both of those milestones while consistently fighting quality competition.
We need to spend more time celebrating fighters like Fili and praising what they’ve done and the impact they have rather than fixating on what they didn’t accomplish.
Apex bangers
While folks whinge about these UFC APEX events, they have typically been entertaining cards and Saturday’s offering was no different, as the prelims featured a slew of gnarly stoppages that got everyone up out of their seats and the main card kicked off with another dazzling finish.
The devastation began with Uros Medic driving a left hand down the pipe against Gilbert Urbina, followed by Joselyne Edwards putting a right hook on Priscila Cachoeira’s chin that caused “Zombie Girl” to glitch out for a second before crashing to the canvas. It was capped by first-year UFC fighter Elijah Smith channelling Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at Pride Critical Countdown 2004 by hitting Toshiomi Kazama with a thunderous powerbomb in order to collect his second win of the year.
Once the action shifted to the main card, Christian Leroy Duncan got things started with his best performance to date inside the Octagon, registering a first-round stoppage win over Eryk Anders that kicked off with a beautiful spinning back elbow by the former Cage Warriors champion.
Critics and contrarians will say none of these victorious athletes are currently in the mix in their respective divisions and so while the viciousness is delicious, it doesn’t necessarily mean a great deal. But whether they carry massive divisional significance or not, entertaining fights and brilliant finishes are entertaining fights and brilliant finishes, and that’s something everybody enjoys, right?
Plus, Edwards is ranked and climbing, Smith is a fascinating prospect and the second youngest fighter on the roster, and Duncan could be a post-hype sleeper in the shifting landscape of the middleweight division, so dismissing these results as inconsequential wouldn’t even be justified.
Octagon odds & ends
Former flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg snapped a three-fight slide with a well-earned win over Ode Osbourne, who turned in a strong performance on short notice against the Australian. Erceg dropped the first but rallied, leaning on his grappling and forward pressure to right the ship after landing on the wring side of things in bouts with Alexandre Pantoja, Kai Kara-France, and Brandon Moreno.
“Astro Boy” was a perfect example of how not all losing streaks are equal and the quality of competition you face is a huge factor in things. This was the reminder of what a quality fighter Erceg is, while also a moment for Osbourne to get his flowers for being a tough out no matter who he’s in there with as well.
Iasmin Lucindo remains one of the most intriguing, young talents on the UFC roster. Already stationed in the strawweight top 10, the 23-year-old picked up a unanimous decision win over Angela Hill on Saturday, righting the ship after suffering a loss to Amanda Lemos earlier this year, cementing her position in the division.
There is no substitute for experience and Lucindo is already having routine success against established names despite still having plenty of room to grow as a fighter. She looked more heavy-handed and showed better decision-making against Hill, and if she continues on her current trajectory, she could be a title challenger in the not too distant future.
Keep an eye on Jean Matsumoto, who got himself back into the win column with a hard-fought victory over Miles Johns on Saturday night. The 25-year-old Brazilian dropped a competitive decision to Rob Font on short-notice back in February, and was able to push through another challenging test in this one.
He’s still developing, still improving, and is already in the “Second 15” in the bantamweight ranks. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Matsumoto in the Top 10 in a couple years if he’s able to stay healthy and keep progressing as he has thus far.
Julius Walker registered his first UFC victory in a protracted grind against Raffael Cerqueira. “Juicebox” controlled things with his wrestling in the first two rounds, but got clipped a couple times in the third, resulting in some tense moments for the light heavyweight UFC rookie.
Gabriella Fernandes continues to make steady progress forward in the flyweight division. The athletic Brazilian registered her third straight victory, out-striking Julija Stoliarenko and doing well to keep things standing throughout to take another step forward in the 125-pound weight class.
There was a note early in the card that former broadcaster Brian Stann would be on the UFC 319 Weigh-In Show, which prompted Daniel Cormier to suggest other colour analysts should be worried that he’s coming back, noting how good Stann was on the mic. Nothing has been said about whether this is a one-off or the start of an eventual return, but getting “The All-American” back into the mix would be outstanding.
