The Halloween horror show continued at UFC Vegas 12 when Alexander Hernandez faced Chris Gruetzmacher in the featured preliminary fight.
Thanks in part to injury, and then to the coronavirus pandemic, it had been two years since fans had last seen UFC Vegas 12’s Chris Gruetzemacher. The lightweight picked up an impressive win over Joe Lauzon back in April 2018, and had not been heard from since. On Saturday, however, the Arizona native returned to take on Alexander “The Great” Hernandez.
Hernandez was a prospect rushed into the spotlight to start his UFC run. But he’d had a few missteps, against Donald Cerrone and Drew Dober in a case of “too much, too soon.”
Chris Gruetzemacher opened up with a leg kick in the fight Saturday, and followed it up a couple more. Hernandez fired back with a leg kick of his own, then landed 1-2 combination followed by a push kick. Gruetzemacher pressed forward, but Hernandez kept firing punches at the advancing fighter. Hernandez kept mixing up the attacks with kicks and punches. A high kick was punctuated with a hard right that was shortly followed up by a crushing left hand that hurt Gruetzemacher and dropped him for a moment. He sprung back to his feet, only to eat a couple of right hands plus an uppercut that sent him to the mat, mercifully ending the fight.
That's how it's done!
👑 @TheGreat155 put it all together in RD 1.
[ #UFCVegas12 on #ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/jsB3skegEi
— UFC (@ufc) October 31, 2020
A complete massacre by Alexander Hernandez. On a night full of big finishes, it was a standout.
Official Result: Alexander Hernandez def. Chris Gruetzemacher by TKO, Round 1, 1:46
