In the main event of UFC Fight Night, middleweight Anthony Hernandez got the victory over Georgian Roman Dolidze by securing a fourth-round rear-naked choke Saturday night at the UFC Apex.
“Man, I want a title shot,” Hernandez said in the Octagon following the win. “What do I gotta do?”
Hernandez (15-2, 1 NC MMA) has now finished 12 of his last 16 fights, and he’ll be watching intently to see who comes away victorious in the UFC 319 main event next Saturday in Chicago. As for Dolidze (15-4 MMA), it snapped a three-fight winning streak in a crowded division.
Women’s strawweight Iasmin Lucindo from Brazil and bantamweight Steve Erceg from Australia won their respective fights by unanimous decision. Lucindo (18-6 MMA) has won three of her last four and prevented opponent Angela Hill (18-15 MMA) from restarting her win streak. Erceg (13-4 MMA) snapped a three-fight losing skid by moving up to bantamweight from flyweight. He utilized several submission attempts to frustrate Jamaican Ode’ Osbourne (13-9 MMA) and secure the win.
Featherweight Andre Fili got back in the win column with a split-decision win over Mexico’s Christian Rodriguez, using his kickboxing skills to get the job done. The judges’ scoring was 29-28, 28-29 and 30-27. Fili (25-12 MMA) has won four of his last seven whereas Rodriguez (12-4 MMA) has lost three of his last four since last July.
Brazilian bantamweight Jean Matsumoto did enough to secure a split-decision win over Miles Johns, taking two of the three judges’ scorecards 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 by diversifying his striking throughout the 15-minute affair. Matsumoto (17-1 MMA) bounced back from his lone loss to Rob Font (22-8 MMA) in February. In his post-fight interview, Matsumoto requested a rematch with Font later this fall for an upcoming UFC Fight Night event in Brazil. Meanwhile, Johns (15-4, 1 NC MMA) has dropped back-to-back outings.
The six-fight UFC Vegas 109 main card kicked off emphatically with England’s Christian Leroy Duncan securing a first-round spinning back elbow knockout against Eryk Anders at middleweight. Duncan (12-2 MMA) has won two in a row, while Anders (17-9 MMA) fell to .500 in the UFC and continues to alternate wins and losses dating back to Oct. 2019.
–Field Level Media
