Anthony Hernandez promises he had nothing personal against Roman Dolidze, but he’s also got a mean streak that led to a statement submission win in their fight at UFC Vegas 109 on Saturday night.
It was a completely lopsided fight after the opening round with Hernandez pressuring Dolidze, punishing him on the feet and then scoring multiple takedowns round after round. By the time the fight made it to the fourth, Hernandez was almost playing with his food as he just battered Dolidze from one side of the octagon to the other until finally just snatching the neck and finishing the fight with a rear-naked choke.
In the moment, Hernandez confessed afterwards that anger actually drove his desire to put Dolidze away but it wasn’t because he actually held a grudge or shared some bad blood with his opponent.
“I almost lost my cool,” Hernandez explained at the UFC Vegas 109 post-fight press conference. “I was pissed off and I saw the neck and I was just like f*ck you. At the end of the day, hats off to Roman. He’s a tough motherf*cker. I’ve got nothing but respect for the guy. He’s f*cking super awesome. Super nice, all media day.
“When I get hit and shit, when I start fighting I lose it and I get mad and I want to kill you. But it’s nothing personal to you. It’s just f*ck you for hitting me.”
Hernandez revealed there was actually another moment earlier in the fight where his volatile temper nearly boiled over as he pursued Dolidze during an exchange.
He credits his coaches for pulling him back from the brink as the veteran middleweight was just going forward guns blazing with no regard towards his own personal safety.
“I got hot headed that one time and started walking towards him and talking hella shit like come on bitch!” Hernandez said. “But my coaches, I heard them yell ‘hey motherf*cker, stay calm!’ and then I was like all right.
“It’s a fight. Sometimes shit happens. I’m a f*cking hot head. My coaches know me so f*cking well that they know how to chill me the f*ck out. If I’m going to listen to anyone, it’s my people.”
While the fight didn’t end until the fourth round, Hernandez knew he was in control much earlier after he absorbed some punches from Dolidze and walked away unphased.
That gave him all the confidence he needed to effectively do whatever he wanted on the feet until mercifully ending the fight with the submission on the ground.
“When I seen how slow his punches were and he hit me with his hardest shot, I knew instantly,” Hernandez said. “I told everyone, I’m a f*cking kickboxer, bro. I’m very comfortable on my feet. I’ve been learning how to wrestle because it breaks people and I have a team that has a game plan and they tell me strategy and I listen to my coaches just because they’ve led me this far and this is a team effort.
“This isn’t just a solo mission. I want us all to have that belt. We all deserve it. We all put in the f*cking work for it.”
In a perfect world, Hernandez would roll right from his eighth consecutive win into a title shot but he also knows it’s possible he might have to compete again before getting his chance at becoming champion.
That said, Hernandez plans to leave Las Vegas and make his way to Chicago next week for the middleweight title fight headlining UFC 319 when Dricus du Plessis puts his belt up for grabs against Khamzat Chimaev.
Ideally, Hernandez would get the winner but if that doesn’t happen, he’s open to whatever the UFC throws at him.
“That’s what I’m hearing. I’m flying to Chicago. So I’ll be there,” Hernandez said. “When I say I don’t give a f*ck who I fight … yes, I’m serious about that shit. I don’t give a f*ck who I fight. I think it would be cool if there was a contender, ‘BMF’ belt or something like that.
“But I want the f*cking title. That’s the only reason I do this shit for is to get that money and change my family’s life.”
