Alexander Hernandez had some reservations about taking a fight during the coronavirus pandemic, after his originally scheduled bout in April fell through. After all, why book bouts and train, if they’re going to evaporate in a puff of smoke?
Hernandez (11-2) was supposed to fight on the original UFC 249 card, on April 18. His original opponent, Islam Makhachev, was forced out of that bout due to travel restrictions. Then, a slew of opponents came and went, before the event itself picked up and moved to Florida.
Hernandez had planned to sit out until he saw an event actually happen. But he decided to jump on one of the Florida cards — Wednesday night, when Hernandez faces Drew Dober, will be the second of three cards in Jacksonville in just eight days.
His reason? Because Florida is, well, Florida. “Just when I saw we were linked to Florida, and I knew Florida’s batsh*t crazy,” he told media outlets at the UFC Jacksonville virtual media day. “So I figured if it was going to go down anywhere, it was definitely going to happen there.”
“At this point, I’m particularly ready just to fight absolutely anybody they put in front of me,” Hernandez said. From Islam Makhachev to Omar Morales to Michael Johnson, and now Drew Dober, the number of opponent changes have left Hernandez just wanting to scrap. “The chaos that we’re in, with everything going on, I was happy just to get some kind of action. It feels like we’ve been in camp for five months.”
In the end, all those opponent changes may have brought a silver lining.
“An opponent in Drew Dober is a guy who’s confident, coming off some wins. He’s going to press the fight forward,” opined Hernandez. “I think it’s an excellent opportunity for me to exploit him and get some highlights of my own. I really enjoy the match-up. It’s the first time I’ve had some significant attribute advantages over someone as well.”
Watch the full UFC Jacksonville virtual media day scrum with Alexander Hernandez above!
