Gregory Rodrigues might just be championship material after all.
The Brazilian veteran won his fourth straight fight, outstriking and outlasting Anthony Hernandez (15-4, 1 NC) in Saturday’s UFC Sacramento main event en route to a unanimous decision win (49-46, 48-47 x2). With the win, Rodrigues (20-6) throws his name into the middleweight title contender mix, as he entered tonight’s headliner at No. 15 at 185 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings with Hernandez defending his No. 5 (tied) spot.
Following the emotional victory, Rodrigues celebrated winning his first-ever five-round decision and called for a bout with former UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis.
“Dricus du Plessis, where are you, man?” Rodrigues said in his post-fight interview. “I want you. Let’s go. No. 1 contender to fight for the belt. Dricus du Plessis, I want you.”
Rodrigues certainly put on a performance worthy of championship chatter as he overcame a vintage effort from Hernandez to secure the victory. Fighting just a short drive south of his hometown of Dunnigan, Calif., Hernandez immediately put the pressure on Rodrigues by shooting for takedowns early and often. Rodrigues showed excellent takedown defense even as Hernandez muscled him against the cage, changed levels, and changed grips to work to put Rodrigues on his back.
Despite Hernandez’s attempts to smother him, Rodrigues found success in the first two rounds, doing more damage when they were separated and chopping Hernandez down with leg kicks that appeared to have Hernandez severely compromised. However, Hernandez charged back in the third, finally grounding Rodrigues, and seemingly wearing him down as he started to find his own success on the feet.
Hernandez is known for thriving in the later rounds, but on Saturday, it was Rodrigues who made the right adjustments to turn the tide back in his favor. Rodrigues’ corner told him to stop backing up and he followed their advice precisely, marching forward in the fourth and forcing Hernandez to battle him in the middle of the octagon. That limited Hernandez’ leverage when it came to setting up takedowns, and instead Hernandez had to trade punches with Rodrigues, a challenge he didn’t shy away from.
Rodrigues sealed the deal with a strong fifth round, consistently outscoring Hernandez on the feet, despite Hernandez somehow never being rocked or knocked down by Rodrigues’ on-point punches.
With the win, Rodrigues improved to 11-3 in the UFC and is knocking on the door of a title shot. Hernandez has now lost two straight fights for the first time in his career following an eight-fight win streak.
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