Athletes
Carlos Hernandez Took His Time
Flyweight Carlos Hernandez Wanted To Get Back In The Octagon Quickly After His Loss But He Had To Put All The Pieces Together First
Sometimes you just have to let the cards fall where they may and let the pieces come together.
That’s what Carlos Hernandez did after his last fight earlier this year, when he was submitted in the first round. Now, of course, it isn’t a fun feeling to sit back and have the taste of defeat in your mouth, but sometimes it’s what you have to do in order to get yourself right for the next opponent.
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“We wanted to get back ideally a month or two after; it didn't play out that way,” Hernandez said. “I just reflected on it and fixed the things we need to fix. Sometimes it forces us to slow down and assess what we need to assess and just get ready for the next one.”
Being able to take the past few months to reflect on his January fight against Allan Nascimento allowed Hernandez to fix some of the things he may have been lacking during that fight. He looked at the time away as an opportunity for growth and improvement. He understands that even though your body may be physically ready, it’s also important to make sure that you are mentally ready, as well.
“The last five months was kind of a learning process,” Hernandez said. “We took a step back, fixed what we needed to fix, learned from the situation we were in, and adapt and use it to get better and use those things that we learned in this new camp to get ready and show up this Saturday.”
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Now that he’s back in fight week and quickly approaching his bout against Denys Bondar at UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs Cannonier, the 29-year-old flyweight is ready to put everything together for an incredible performance inside the UFC APEX.
Last year, Hernandez made his UFC debut after competing on season five of Dana White’s Contender Series. In his debut, he earned a split decision victory over Victor Altamirano, so there’s still one thing missing that Hernandez hopes to showcase this weekend.
“A finish,” Hernandez said. “It's been a while since I've been able to get a finish out there. I feel like all of my fights have been down to the wire since my Contender Series fight, so I am putting a stamp on this one and going out there and not forcing it, but looking for a finish.”
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Four of his eight wins have been won by submission, with three first-round finishes, so there’s no doubt that Hernandez has the capabilities to end the night early. And when he looks at Bondar as an opponent, he believes that there will be opportunity for him to earn that victory.
“He's pretty good all around,” Hernandez said. “I think if he gets to dictate easily where the fight goes, he looks really good in his fights, but when that's not the case there's some things we can expose and that's what we're looking to do. We're looking to control the fight from the start and just make it a rough night for him.”
Bondar has more fights than Hernandez, coming in with a record of 16-4, while Hernandez’s record currently sits at 8-2. Bondar has only has one fight in the UFC and it ended in the first round against Malcolm Gordon after he suffered an arm injury 81 seconds into the fight.
Overall, Hernandez believes he is the more complete fighter and that will show on Saturday night.
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“He might have more fights on his professional record, but I've been in this game since I was eight years old, so that doesn't really bother me and worry me,” Hernandez said. “I'm just ready to go.”
Securing a victory is always a special moment for any athlete but doing it on the eve of Father’s Day would be extra special for Hernandez.
“It would mean the world,” Hernandez said. “It'd be quite the journey between these wins, with the debut win and then the surgery and then the rehab and coming back and losing. It's been kind of a roller coaster, so it'd be like a huge sigh of relief and a nice little Father's Day present for my pops this weekend.”
UFC Fight Night: Vettori vs Cannonier took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas on June 17, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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