Earlier this month, Dunnigan native and Woodland High School graduate Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez accelerated his ascension up the UFC middleweight rankings, winning his sixth fight in a row via a fifth-round TKO over the unconventional and sometimes unpredictable Michel Pereira.

On Saturday, Oct. 19, at UFC Fight Night: Hernandez vs. Pereira, Hernandez improved to a tidy 13-2 record overall in the UFC with one no-contest. His past four fights have all been finished, marking the third-longest active streak in the UFC, according to the fight broadcast.

“This is everything I have been expecting, so it is nothing crazy to get over-excited about,” Hernandez said. “I’m not where I want to be yet, so I need to keep claiming up the rankings, but I’m stoked. I’m finally in the process of really moving forward. At the end of the day, the title is the goal. I want to do everything it takes to get the title. Thats when the life-changing stuff happens.”

Hernandez earned the TKO win after a relentless battle in which he not only recovered from an early body blow but came back to dominate the third and fourth rounds on his way to an overwhelming win over a gassed Pereira.

Before any heavy panting filled the TV screens, Pereira hit Hernandez with the aforementioned kick to the body in the opening round.

“That didn’t feel great,” Hernandez recalled. “I thought my elbow was in tight, but it wasn’t in tight enough, so I got caught. Once I caught my breath back, I was like, ‘Ok, he’s got nothing.’ If that’s his best shot, then whatever.”

One minute into the second round, the broadcast mentioned how heavily and quickly Pereira was breathing. If you have heard or listened to any Hernandez interviews before, you’d know how relentless he is about his cardio. In pre-fight lead-up interviews, Hernandez mentioned he knew his opponent didn’t have as much stamina as he did, and that was on full display in this fight.

“It felt great to see,” Hernandez said when he saw a tired Pereira.” We knew he was going to have his best round in the first, and after that, he gets gassed. The longer it went, the better it was. When I saw him panting, I knew I just needed to mind my Ps and Qs, and this would be in the bag. I just tried not to gas myself out and not overdo it so that I wouldn’t get tired, but make him work double.”

Pereira was in complete survival mode in the third and fourth rounds as Hernandez teed off.

“I just tried to finish him there,” Hernandez said. “Don’t do anything big or dumb. Just flatten him out and keep hitting him with elbows. He was tough, and he took a bunch of crazy hammer fists and a bunch of elbows until I split him, and they jumped in to stop it. Finishing fights is always cool, and fans want to see finishes, but I’m fighting the best guys in the world. I understand everyone is going to be a very tough fight. You have to be smart with your moves, and it gets longevity out of my body.”

According to a recent UFC.com ranking, Hernandez fell one spot to No. 14 in the rankings since his previous fight. Luckily, the only thing that matters to Hernanez is the belt and his next fight, not some numbers next to his name.

“I feel I’m one or two big fights away from putting my name in the hat,” Hernandez said. “There are a few middleweights who won recently who are ahead of me, but I think it’s all timing and who isn’t hurt at the right time. I’m focused on one fight at a time. Right now, I’m just going to get healthy and make sure everything is good there. Once I know I’m healthy, we’ll go from there. Whoever is available, I’d love to fight. I really don’t care about names.”

Hernandez also mentioned he feels all the love and support he gets locally and is incredibly grateful for it.

“It’s a blessing to be backed,” Hernandez said. “It’s not only me in there. It’s the whole county. I take a lot of pride in Yolo County, so it’s a blessing to go out there and hold it down for all of us. Little town, but big dreams.”