“Merab at middleweight” – Anthony Hernandez BREAKS Michel Pereira, UFC records and INTERNET in one-sided beatdown

Middleweight star Anthony Hernandez gets compared to UFC bantamweight champion after melting Michel Pereira at UFC Vegas 99.

“Merab at middleweight” – Anthony Hernandez BREAKS Michel Pereira, UFC records and INTERNET in one-sided beatdown

Anthony Hernandez compared to Merab Dvalishvili after UFC Vegas 99 (Image via UFC X account)

UFC Vegas 99 featured Anthony ‘Fluffy’ Hernandez and Michel Pereira duke it out to rise in the middleweight rankings. Though it looked evenly matched, the bout became an unexpected one-sided beatdown. ‘Fluffy’ controlled the fight, shot for takedowns, and dominated the showman in Pereira all throughout the fight.

Anthony Hernandez shot for 29 takedown attempts (UFC middleweight record) to overwhelm his opponent. It was eerily similar to how Merab Dvalishvili defeated Petr Yan in 2023. The current bantamweight champion shot for 49 takedowns to keep Yan from attacking. Though the Russian fighter fought back at the time, Michel Pereira couldn’t mount any offense after the first round.

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Shooting takedowns to overwhelm opponents remains one of the best techniques Merab Dvalishvili possesses. Hernandez not only did that, but he also landed 152 significant strikes compared to Pereira’s 24 over five rounds. Landing more than 120 strikes than the opponent remains no easy task. As such, Fluffy had a massive stock upgrade at UFC Vegas 99.

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With a six-fight winning streak, Hernandez can certainly look for a top-10 opponent next. The likes of Marvin Vettori, Brendan Allen, Paulo Costa, and Roman Dolidze are all exciting matchups. A win over any one of them will put him in a title eliminator bout. Fluffy confirmed as much in his octagon interview, where he declared his interest to fight for the title very soon.

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Fans react to Anthony Hernandez overwhelming Michel Pereira at UFC Vegas 99

A six-fight winning streak is something massive in the UFC. It means that a fighter is potentially two wins away from a title shot. Anthony Hernandez announced himself to the world with a dominant TKO win over Michel Pereira. The acrobatic Brazilian couldn’t deal with the pressure of his opponent. This helped Hernandez find the safest possible way to a victory.

Anthony Hernandez defeated Michel Pereira comfortably at UFC Vegas 99
Anthony Hernandez defeated Michel Pereira comfortably (Image via Open Source)

The American middleweight shooting takedowns over and over again made a lot of fans think of Merab Dvalishvili’s fighting style. The MMA community remains impressed and wants a top matchup for Fluffy in his next outing. Here are some of the fan reactions:

Another impressive fact is that Hernandez has never completed ten takedowns in his UFC career before today. He bested his previous best of 8 takedowns in a single bout. Not only that, he had never landed more than 100 significant strikes in a UFC bout. At UFC Vegas 99, he landed 213 strikes, of which 152 landed significantly. These were two other records that Fluffy broke in his 10th UFC outing.

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Fans were thrilled with the performances, as can be seen from their reactions. Some fans felt Pereira shouldn’t have gassed out after the first round. The pressure put on by Hernandez might have played a part. Nevertheless, the fans hope for a higher-ranked opponent for Fluffy next time around.