Seattle, WA — Anthony Hernandez entered his first fight with Brendan Allen, back in their LFA days, with separated ribs and a hand injury. That won’t be the case when the pair run it back at UFC Seattle this Saturday.
“I couldn’t hit at all, so I couldn’t hit mitts, it was just jogging, and talking about jiu-jitsu positions that entire camp,” Hernandez recalled, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press during the UFC Seattle media day on Wednesday. “I was like ‘eh, f*ck it, I’ll get through it.’ I was 5-0, I was like ‘no one’s going to stop me.’ I was tired as sh*t that fight, I didn’t know how to wrestle, my ground sucked. It’s a lot better. I was more of a scrambler, now I actually know how to do it, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Hernandez for a change has had a full fight camp ahead of what he expects to be a completely different fight. “It’s nice to have, six weeks is ideal but eight weeks is good because it gives you those two weeks of hiccup room,” he noted. “I think it’s better to have a full camp for sure.”
As far as Allen is concerned, “he’s gotten better everywhere. All the places I feel like I messed up last time, the first time we fought, I understand now. I understand how to shut it down. I plan on going out there and having a great performance.” That said, “Fluffy” Hernandez isn’t expecting a cakewalk. Far from it. “I know it’s going to be a war. He was a tough f*cking kid the last time I fought him. Whatever, it is what it is. We’ll see who wins.”
Anthony Hernandez also spoke on having his wife as his manager, telling Cageside Press that “it’s clutch as hell, because I don’t got to do it. And I don’t even know how to use a computer, I’m not going to lie. If you try to G-Mail me and sh*t, I probably won’t reply back, because that’s not my style my guy. I don’t really watch TV, I kind of just kick it and fight people.”
Later in Wednesday’s media session, Hernandez revealed that he’d previously been booked with current middleweight champ Dricus Du Plessis. For obvious reasons, that’s a fight he’d like to get back on the books. “I like the fight with DDP. I was supposed to have that fight already, and I was like ‘dope.’ I said yes on two week’s notice or some sh*t. I believe I have the skills to beat the guy. It’s crazy, because I tell everyone, it looks like he’s gassed but the motherf*cker keeps coming forward, it throws people off. I definitely would like that fight, but right now it’s just Brendan Allen that’s on my mind.”
Hernandez is also open to a scrap with the imposing Khamzat Chimaev. “Honestly I don’t give a f*ck. I’ll fight anybody. I would fight him too.”
Watch the full UFC Seattle media day appearance by Anthony Hernandez above.
