Middleweight Khabib? Fluffy MAULS Pereira
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Anthony Hernandez vs. Michel Pereira squared off in a Middleweight contest earlier tonight (Sat. Oct. 19, 2024) at UFC Vegas 99 inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. In a dominant win, Hernandez beat the life out of Pereira!
Pereira landed a hard front kick early that earned Hernandez’s attention, and the Brazilian shucked off the first takedown attempt. Immediately, Pereira flurried and tried to force a finish on his wounded foe, but Hernandez hung tough and fought his way off the fence. “Fluffy” landed a right hand and began getting a hold of Pereira a bit more. He wasn’t able to land the takedown yet, but Pereira was spending more and more time with his back to the fence. The two traded punches and knees in the clinch before Hernandez went back to the wrestling well. With 40 seconds remaining, Hernandez scored his first takedown of the fight with a clinch throw.
He finished the round throwing ground strikes with momentum firmly in his corner.
Hernandez was immediately back on the wrestling to start round two but an eye poke slowed the action. “Fluffy” was feinting his shots, landing punches, then actually shooting to get effect, and Pereira was definitely slowing. Still, the hulking Brazilian attacked a guillotine choke and put Hernandez in real danger! Hernandez scrambled his way into top position, getting exactly what he wanted despite the threat of the choke.
Hernandez went to work dropping elbows and advanced into mount, but Pereira reversed his foe ... for a moment. Hernandez wrestled up and floored Pereira again moments later, absolutely drowning his foe in pure pace. Rinse and repeat, Hernandez was threatening chokes, throwing Pereira to the floor, and battering him between transitions.
Less than 30 seconds into the third, Pereira was stuck on the floor and the fence again. The Brazilian was still scrambling gamely, but he was fully in Hernandez’s world and could never truly escape his grasp. “Fluffy” fully established top position about two minutes into the round and went to work with dropping hammers. He also came close to an arm triangle choke, draining Pereira even further.
The Brazilian needed a miracle with 10 minutes remaining.
Pereira managed to land a good knee before getting taken down again, but that was the only real change in round four. He just continued to beat up Pereira with relentless punches and grappling transitions, drowning the Brazilian finisher in offense. Based on how Pereira stumbled to his corner, throwing in the towel would have been a reasonable decision. Instead, he was sent out for five more minutes of pain and punishment. Hernandez pushed hard for the finish, and a series of elbows prompted Herb Dean to intervene.
It was more of a mercy stoppage than anything else, but it was definitely the right call.
This was a tremendous victory for Hernandez, who set multiple volume-based records in the course of this victory. Outside of the first minute, he was never in serious trouble and controlled the flow of the fight. Once his wrestling began to work, every aspect of Hernandez’s game clicked beautifully.
It really was a Khabib-esque mauling. By the end of the fight, Pereira looked like a broken man, even if he never actually stopped fighting back.
Result: Hernandez defeats Pereira via fifth-round TKO
For complete UFC Vegas 99 results and play-by-play, click HERE!
