5 Things You Might Not Know About Anthony Hernandez

Volatility has defined the Anthony Hernandez market thus far.

The 28-year-old Californian will attempt to string together back-to-back victories for the first time since he joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster when he toes the line against organizational newcomer Josh Fremd as part of the UFC 273 undercard on Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. Hernandez has alternated wins and losses in each of his past four appearances. He last competed at UFC 258, where he stunned the combat sports community and submitted multiple-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Rodolfo Vieira in the second round of their Feb. 13 encounter.

As Hernandez moves ever closer to his three-round confrontation with Fremd at 185 pounds, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. Small-town America could not contain him.

Hernandez was born on Oct. 18, 1993 in Dunnigan, California—a “census-designated place” of less than 1,500 people located roughly 90 miles northeast of San Francisco.

2. He gets to the point.

“Fluffy”—the nickname was given to him as an overweight child—finished his first five professional opponents inside one round, four of them with guillotine chokes, and did so in a little more than 11 minutes combined. Hernandez needed just 51 seconds to punch out Trey Williams in his pro debut at West Coast Fighting Championship 11 on Sept. 13, 2014.

3. He struck regional gold.

Hernandez remains one of only eight men who have captured the Legacy Fighting Alliance middleweight championship. Eryk Anders, Markus Perez, Ian Heinisch, Brendan Allen, Gregory Rodrigues, Joshua Silveira and Osman Diaz are the others. Only Silveira and Diaz have yet to appear in the UFC.

4. Iron-sharpens-iron preparation fueled his development.

The former LFA titleholder trains with the MMA Gold Fight Team in El Dorado Hills, California, where he has honed his skills alongside a bevy of accomplished stablemates. They include Max Griffin, Andrea Lee, Aspen Ladd, Jamall Emmers and Tony Kelley. Hernandez has also spent time under the direction of Dave Marinoble.

5. He nearly missed his bus.

Hernandez fought on Season 2 of Dana White’s Contender Series and wrecked Jordan Wright with punches just 40 seconds into their encounter on June 19, 2018. However, the result was later overturned to a no contest after he failed a post-fight drug test for marijuana. The UFC elected to sign Hernandez anyway.

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