Anthony Hernandez reveals when Dricus du Plessis 'f*cked himself' in title loss to Khamzat Chimaev: 'He didn't know what to do' |
01/09/2025 15:00 -
Anthony Hernandez sat cage side for the UFC 319 main event that saw Khamzat Chimaev dominate Dricus du Plessis to capture the UFC middleweight title.
Following his destruction and finish of Roman Dolidze at UFC Vegas 109, the promotion flew "Fluffy" to Chicago for Chimaev's crowning moment. In the aftermath of the fight, the majority of fingers seem to be pointing at Chimaev for, perhaps, not the most thrilling performance in a title win, despite his dominance. The surging Hernandez understands that, and he believes more of the onus should be placed on the former champion, especially since Hernandez picked du Plessis to win.
"I was [surprised], until I started watching what DDP was doing," Hernandez told MMA Fighting. "It’s like, bro, you’re doing all big explosive strong guy shit. That shit doesn’t work against good wrestlers, like they can flow off of that shit. So like DDP just kind of f*cked himself on that, and then Khazmat did a really good job of keeping the pressure on him, keeping him on his hands, keeping it so he couldn’t get up, and I mean, it’s very high level on Khazmat’s end.
"But to watch as a fan and watch to enjoy blood and shit, like people cracking the f*ck out of each other and like mixing it up. It was kind of boring, but like, that’s just my opinion. I’m a fighter, too. So, I mean, I try to send it, usually, and I’ve been there, too, where it’s like, you're kind of hurt and you gotta just f*cking do what you gotta do to win. So I get it, but I look forward to when I get to fight that guy. Right now, I've got some more proving to do, so I’m going to go prove a point and then how the f*cking shit plays out, it plays out. …
"[But] after about the second round [is] when I realized he couldn’t do shit, and he didn’t know what to do, and like he was just still flexing hella hard on shit. I was like, 'Oh, OK. He’s f*cked.'"
Hernandez could see himself standing across the octagon from the new champion in Chimaev's first title defense. But first, he'll have to take care of business on Oct. 18 when he faces Reinier de Ridder in the main event of UFC Vancouver. The 31-year-old Hernandez has won eight fights in a row, finishing five of his past six opponents.
As far as the sentiment regarding the fight, and Chimaev's performance being "boring," Hernandez gets it, but also believes "Borz" fought the correct fight to get the victory.
"No, I get it, but people pay to see violence," Hernandez said. "People pay to see blood. I don’t even watch fights, to be honest, and the only time they can catch my attention is when I see someone getting f*cked up, you know? Or they’re both f*cking sending it. As an enjoyment, I don’t watch fights, but when that shit happens, I’m like, 'Oh shit, hold up, let me let me put the joint out real quick and watch this, you know what I mean? I enjoy seeing that shit.
"But you’re not going to catch me being like, 'Oh, I love grappling so much that I’m just going to watch this fight. You would never catch me saying that shit.I grew up striking, I love striking. I don’t know, I think I love that side of fighting. Khamzat usually does send it. Like most of his fights, he is sending it. He does. But like I said, he did a smart thing. He shut him down, like solidified the belt, and now it’s his call, you know what I mean. He did everything right. He probably should do that for [his] first [title defense]. He played it safe, played it smart,so respect to him on that shit, and he did it very good and beautiful in a way, but as a fan it’s like, I don’t know. I want [to see] someone get hurt."
When UFC CEO Dana White announced Hernandez's main event bout against de Ridder, White said that the bout — along with the upcoming UFC Paris main event between Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho — will determine the No. 1 contender for the 185-pound championship.
While Hernandez learned a lot from watching Chimaev win his first world title just a few feet away, if his number is called, he knows that there's a lot more work to do — which is something Hernandez is looking forward to.
"I don’t know, when the f*cking time comes, man, my coaches will have a f*cking game plan, like a drawing board and, at the end of the day, I'm always going to listen to them," Hernandez said. "This is a group effort. It’s not just me, you know what I mean?
"At the end of the day, yes, I’m in the pilot seat, but this is a group effort and they help me very f*cking much, and I trust them with all my life. So when that time comes, and [that] approach comes, I'll be ready for it."
