Anthony 'Fluffy' Hernandez has taken the radar from Dricus du Plessis.
The rising UFC community service in the middleweight brought it to the eight wins in what his second UFC head event was on Saturday evening. The #10-ranging Hernandez fought #9 Compenders Roman Dolidze on UFC Vegas 109.
Although he was one ranker, Hernandez showed that he was lying above Dolidze and the Georgian dominated to the championship rounds. Hernandez even celebrated early after he almost ended Dolidze in the last seconds of round 2.
Hernandez finally drew Dolidze in the fourth round and called for a title shot against the winner of the middleweight title fight between the reigning and title defender Dricus Du Plessis and the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev.
Prior to the largest UFC fight of the year, Du Plessis Hernandez held in to cash in 'easy money' against a respected top candidate in Dolidze.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Dricus du Persis impressed by the latest performance by Anthony Hernandez on UFC Vegas 109
Hernandez Dolidze dominated everywhere where the fight went, and took his opponent nine times seven minutes and 48 seconds of control time and it landed him with nearly 100 strikes.
It is safe to say that the champion liked what he saw from Hernandez at the UFC Apex.
“What a performance of Fluffy!” Du Plessis wrote about the performance of Hernandez on X.
Hernandez is one of the few top 10 contenders that Du Plessis could meet after Chimaev on UFC 319 next weekend, with a successful defending defense of course.
What a version of Fluffy!
– Dricus du Plessis (@Dricusduplessis) 10 August 2025
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Can Anthony Hernandez Land winner of Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev on UFC 319?
The Acht-Vecht profit reak from Hernandez is only second for Du Plessis in the Middleweight Division (11).
Hernandez has not lost in five years, his last loss is coming to formerly arranged competitor Kevin Holland via Body Shot TKO in 2020.
'Fluffy's CV has victories over people like Dolidze, Brendan Allen, Michel Pereira, Roman Kopylov, Edmen Shahbazyan and more.
How likely is a title option for Hernandez after his second victory of the main event? Well, it's hard to say, because, as talented and well completed as the 31-year-old, there are other contenders for him, who also come.
The #6-ranking Caio Borralho, the official backup hunter for Du Plessis vs. Chimaev, could possibly bind the current series of Hernandez with an eighth consecutive UFC victory on #1 Competier Nassourdine Imavov.
Imavov and Borralho have a great chance to combat the winner of the next middleweight title fight with another victory in the main event of UFC Paris on 6 September.