Las Vegas, NV — Anthony Hernandez was a 30-to-1 underdog to submit Rodolfo Vieira at UFC 258.
Apparently, no one bothered to tell him. Not that it would matter. “F*ck ’em,” Hernandez said when told of the odds backstage following the event, which saw him do the unthinkable: tap out Vieira, a previously undefeated mixed martial artist and winner of seven world cups in the jiu-jitsu world.
“I knew I was going to tap him out. I told my coaches from the very beginning. They said not to do it, but it happened,” Hernandez, alternately known as “Fluffy,” told media outlets including Cageside Press following the event.
Pan American championships. European championships. Seven world cup golds. Five BJJ world championship gold medals. Which is why Hernandez’s team advised him not to try to submit Rodolfo. Not that it got through. “I really don’t follow fighting like that, and jiu-jitsu and sh*t. So that really doesn’t mean too much to me, but I guess it’s a big deal,” noted Hernandez. “A fight’s a fight, when you can hit someone, sh*t changes. It’s not jiu-jitsu.”
That said, Hernandez seems happy to make some history, becoming the first UFC fighter to tap out a former ADCC world champion since Frank Mir in 2001 (when Mir submitted Roberto Traven).
“I plan to make more history, so it’s f*cking awesome to hear that news. But it’s just the beginning.” As a bonus, Hernandez is hoping his shock submission will earn him the first stripe on his purple belt.
There’s another bonus on the horizon as well: A Performance of the Night bonus. “I already talked to Dana [White, UFC President]. He said ‘you’re getting it no matter what f*cking happens. If the roof caves in, you’re getting that bonus,'” revealed Hernandez. “Because that was a hell of a performance.”
It certainly was, and could set Anthony Hernandez up for a big fight next. First, however, he’ll have to take care of an injured, possibly broken hand. Then, there’s the matter of spending that bonus money. “Get healthy, get my kids their own bedrooms, and then whoever the f*ck they want me to fight [he’ll fight],” is the plan Hernandez suggested Saturday night. “I don’t give a f*ck.”
Watch the full UFC 258 post-fight press scrum with Anthony Hernandez above.
