Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez believes Gregory Rodrigues crossed the line during their UFC Sacramento main event, accusing the Brazilian middleweight of repeatedly grabbing inside his gloves during their five-round bout.
Hernandez dropped a unanimous decision to Rodrigues at UFC Fight Night 248 at Golden 1 Center on Saturday, with the judges scoring the fight 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46. The defeat marked Hernandez’s second consecutive loss.
Despite falling short on the scorecards, Hernandez said he was proud of his performance, particularly given the circumstances surrounding his preparation for the fight. He revealed that he had been sidelined for seven months with a shoulder injury and received injections on the day of the bout to manage the pain.
“I made a f---ing mistake that cost me the fight, I think, you know what I mean?” Hernandez told reporters at the post-fight press conference. “I made a couple mistakes, but man, when I took this fight I was injured, out for seven months, so I knew what I had coming into this. I had a f---ing shoulder injury. I just got injections on Saturday so I wouldn't feel my shoulder.”
Hernandez said he felt he had overcome significant adversity to make it to the Octagon on short notice.
“All f---ing odds stacked against me, (I) had a hurry-up camp and I went out there and did what I did, so I'm proud of myself. At the end of the day, that’s it.”
The 32-year-old also praised Rodrigues for his toughness, but claimed the Brazilian repeatedly committed an infraction by grabbing inside his gloves. Hernandez said he brought the issue to referee Herb Dean’s attention multiple times during the fight.
“He’s a tough son of a bitch, man. I hit him with everything (but) the kitchen sink,” Hernandez said. “(I) hit him with some hard elbows. F---er was cheating and grabbing inside of my gloves and I told Herb (Dean) that. I fight clean, man, so it is what it is. Maybe I should be more dirty.”
According to Hernandez, he told Dean about the alleged glove grabbing approximately four times, but felt the situation was not punished beyond verbal warnings.
“I told fucking Herb, ‘this mother---er grabbed my glove’ like four times and I was like, ‘hey, he's grabbing my gloves,’ and he told him, ‘hey, stop,’ but I mean whatever, don't take a point, whatever, you know?” Hernandez said. “I mean, f--- it, I guess people like to cheat, so it is what it is.”
