Anthony Hernandez weathered an early storm of offense and ultimately cruised to a lopsided fifth-round TKO victory over Michel Pereira on Saturday at UFC Vegas 99 in Las Vegas. The rising middleweight contender finished Pereira with elbows at the 2:22 mark of the fifth round in a fight that could have been stopped much earlier as Pereira ran out of gas after the opening frame.
Seconds into the UFC Vegas 99 main event, Pereira hurt Hernandez with a front kick to the liver and followed up with a series of punches and knees as a wounded Hernandez covered up against the cage. Hernandez recovered and set the tone for the rest of the fight with a takedown into side control and some strong ground strikes. Pereira was poked in the eye early in the second round and he trapped Hernandez in a guillotine choke after action resumed. Hernandez escaped and scored with elbows and punches from the top, then threatened with an arm-triangle choke. Pereira managed to work his way out of Hernandez’s chokes, but Hernandez punished him with punches and elbows as Pereira’s gas tank approached empty.
Rounds 3 and 4 were almost entirely controlled by Hernandez on the ground as Pereira again struggled to do anything but survive. The cage wall prevented Hernandez from getting a finish with a third-round arm-triangle choke, so he instead continued to batter his Brazilian foe with punches and elbows as referee Herb Dean kept a close eye on the proceedings. Entering the fifth round, Pereira’s corner begged him to land just one big strike. He could not do so, and Hernandez scored yet another takedown. He cut Pereira above his right eye with an elbow and then continued to land more elbows until Dean finally waved off the fight. Hernandez has now won six straight fights, including five via stoppage, and he appears to be on track to face a title contender in his next outing following tonight’s dominant performance.
Related » UFC Vegas 99 Round-by-Round Scoring
Font Outboxes Phillips
In the bantamweight co-main event, Rob Font (21-8, 11-7 UFC) bounced back after a rough first round against Kyler Phillips (12-3, 6-2 UFC) to take a unanimous decision victory with scores of 29-28 thrice. Phillips dominated the opening frame on the mat after taking Font down into side control and landing hard elbows from the top. Font eventually scrambled up to his feet and the fighters exchanged punches before the end of the round. After brief takedowns from Phillips early in the second and third rounds, Font quickly got to his feet both times and he controlled the majority of the final ten minutes on the feet. Phillips was constantly on the defensive and backing up as Font walked him down with hooks to the head and body. Phillips did have brief success in the third round with two calf kicks that knocked Font off-balance, but Font continued his march forward and he landed jabs and right hands late in the fight. The victory snapped a two-fight losing skid for Font, who has battled inconsistency since his main event loss to Jose Aldo almost three years ago that ended an excellent four-fight winning streak.
Johnson Wins Wild Scrap Over Mudaerji
Charles Johnson (17-6, 6-4 UFC) extended his winning streak to four with a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) win over Su Mudaerji (16-7, 3-4 UFC) in featured flyweight action. Johnson pressed forward with punches early in the fight and Mudaerji responded with kicks to his lead leg. He stuffed a Johnson takedown attempt and landed a hard elbow on the break. Both men scored with power punches during the final seconds of the round. Mudaerji took control of the striking in the second stanza by landing jabs, front kicks to the body and lead right hooks. However, Johnson landed a big right uppercut and then dropped Mudaerji against the cage with a second one. He tried to finish Mudaerji with punches on the ground, but Mudaerji recovered and he trapped Johnson in a triangle choke during the final minute. The fighters traded overhand lefts in the third round and Mudaerji once again targeted Johnson’s right leg with kicks. Johnson reversed a takedown and Mudaerji held him in a brabo choke. The fight ended with both men throwing punches, and all three judges sided with Johnson by a close margin.
Smotherman Picks Up Short Notice Win Over Hadley
Stepping in on short notice and as a significant underdog, Cameron Smotherman (12-4, 1-0 UFC) overcame the odds and a bad poke to his eye in the second round to upset Jake Hadley (11-4, 3-4 UFC) via unanimous decision (30-26, 29-27, 29-27) at bantamweight. Smotherman pressed the action in the first round and effectively mixed up his punches to the head and body of Hadley, who was forced to circle away to his left. Hadley landed a three-punch flurry but Smotherman kept him on the defensive and he landed at a much higher rate. In the second round, Smotherman was first kicked in the groin and then poked in his right eye. The second foul resulted in a timeout of more than four minutes, during which Hadley was docked one point, but Smotherman fought on and defended against Hadley’s takedown attempts in the final minute. The final round was dominated by Smotherman early on, as he once again backed Hadley up with punches and also landed three knees to the body. Hadley rallied after being kicked in the groin, however, and wobbled Smotherman with a left hook late in the fight. Despite Hadley’s late offense, the judges returned a clear verdict in favor of Smotherman, who impressed in his UFC debut.
Elkins Outlasts Pineda
Opening up the main card, Darren Elkins (29-11, 19-10 UFC) won a highly-entertaining unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) against fellow veteran Daniel Pineda (28-17, 3 NC; 5-8, 1 NC UFC) at featherweight. Pineda got off to a strong start in the opening round with a spinning back kick to Elkins’ liver and a tight mounted guillotine choke. Elkins impressively escaped and he opened a bad cut above Pineda’s left eye with an elbow. Pineda attempted another guillotine and landed elbows of his own from mount. He began the second round with his right eye heavily swollen from a punch sustained in the first round, and Elkins kept the pressure on him with two takedowns and some hard punches and elbows from mount before the bell. In the final round, after being cleared by the doctor to continue, a battered Pineda reversed a takedown and briefly took Elkins’ back. The fight returned to the feet and Pineda knocked Elkins down with a leg kick, but Elkins took top position in Pineda’s guard and stayed there until the final bell for a close but deserved victory.
Prelims: Almabaev Tops Nicolau, Matsumoto Stays Undefeated
In the featured preliminary bout, Asu Almabaev (21-2, 4-0 UFC) took a hard-fought unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) win over Matheus Nicolau (19-5-1, 7-4 UFC) at flyweight; bantamweight Jean Matsumoto (16-0, 2-0 UFC) kept his unblemished record intact with a unanimous (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) verdict over two-time TUF winner Brad Katona (14-4, 4-4 UFC) in an excellent fight; Joselyne Edwards (14-6, 5-4 UFC), who came in three pounds overweight for her bantamweight matchup against Tamires Vidal (7-4, 1-3 UFC), submitted Vidal with a face crank at the 4:33 mark of Round 3; former CFFC champion Elise Reed (8-4, 4-4 UFC) won her strawweight duel with Jessica Penne (14-8, 3-6 UFC) via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28); also at 115 pounds, Melissa Martinez (8-1, 1-1 UFC) secured her first UFC victory via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) against Alice Ardelean (9-7, 0-2 UFC); and Austen Lane (13-5, 1 NC; 1-2, 1 NC UFC) opened the card with a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) victory over Robelis Despaigne (5-2, 0-2 UFC) at heavyweight.
