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Andreas Hale, ESPN
Anthony Hernandez turned in a suffocating performance and beat up Michel Pereira for over 20 minutes until he earned a fifth-round stoppage in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Aside from a front kick to the torso in the opening seconds that briefly hurt Hernandez, “Fluffy” was a swarm of violence who never gave the Brazilian the opportunity to breathe, much less fight.
After the kick to the body, Hernandez (13-2) quickly gathered himself and went to work, with his trademark smothering offense offering little room for Pereria to operate. In the second round, Pereira trapped him in a guillotine that appeared to be deep, but Hernandez maneuvered his way out of danger and pinned himself on top of Pereria. The swarming offense continued from the UFC’s No. 13-ranked middleweight as he transitioned from submission attempts and ground-and-pound without pause.
By the third round, Pereira (31-12) — the UFC’s No. 14-ranked middleweight — was spent and only could survive the constant barrage of punishment. Pereira offered little in return and sought a moral victory by making it to the final bell. But Hernandez wasn’t interested in hearing the judges’ scorecards and rained down a violent salvo of punishment in the final round, including a wicked elbow that split Pereira above his eyebrow.
Referee Herb Dean called the fight at the 2:38 mark.
The dominant performance included over 15 minutes of control time, 197 significant strikes and a division-leading 29 takedown attempts for Hernandez.
The stoppage extended his win streak to six and halted Pereria’s streak at eight.