Performance Spotlight: UFC Fight Night: Dern vs. Hill (Part 1)

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - SEPTEMBER 17: Anthony Hernandez reacts after defeating Marc-Andre Barriault of Canada in a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on September 17, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

In this article I want to highlight two performances that caught my eye from the latest UFC Fight Night event. These are the grindy and transition filled showing by Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez against a dangerous Edmen Shahbazyan, and how Viacheslav Borshchev won his striking affair against fellow big hitter Maheshate. Let’s get into it.

“Fluffy” Hernandez: Pace and Transitions

Anthony Hernandez is establishing himself as one of the premier “pace as a weapon” fighters in the current landscape of the sport, but his relentless style is thankfully accompanied by a good foundation of transitions, efficiency and decent baseline skills in every area. (I touched on the topic previously on this Twitter thread).

Against Shahbazyan, the tale of the fight was pretty much already written. “The Golden Boy” is a sharp and dangerous striker out of the gate but has won a reputation of being a front runner, and Hernandez is the tireless grinder that takes over fights as they progress. A two-outcome fight, as they say.

As the fight begun, Shahbazyan’s approach looked like the right one. He was looking to have the initiative, staying in Anthony’s face and starting quick but not wild. Making sure his back was not pushed to the fence, he wasn’t exactly pressuring but kept the front foot. Shahbazyan was also aware of the takedown threat, keeping his eyes on Hernandez’s level to drop with him and kill his shots with angles.

Hernandez was quick to realize that Edmen was not going to be pressured just by his presence and was dangerous in open space, so he proceeded to take more risks pushing forward and looking for non-optimal takedown entries for the sake of establishing his pace.

Dropping for a guillotine and getting muscled around was a risky move, as “Fluffy” was banking on losing portions of the fight to get a return on his investment. And to his credit, it’s apparent Shahbazyan is working really hard in the clinch - minus a few sketchy moments, Anthony’s defense was holding up.

After a few takedown attempts and exchanges, Edmen was already feeling the pace and was more accepting of having his back against the cage - this prompted him to go for a high elbow guillotine which forces Hernandez to drop to his back to defend. On the ground, Anthony is quickly to scramble and as he’s escaping mount, Shahbazyan takes a risk that could be considered a great mistake: instead of getting back to his feet or going for a back ride, he goes for an armbar, maybe remembering the teachings of her former manager Ronda Rousey. Anthony quickly freed his arm, and (even though Edmen was able to get back to his feet) it was all Hernandez from that point, as he kept mixing his mat returns and strikes during transitions for the remaining minute of the round.

Now with the tone set let’s look at some of the tactics and techniques Hernandez used:

A lot it’s said about pulling guard with guillotines being a poor choice, but Hernandez has a lot of control options with his arm-in guillotine. He usually sets it up from the back ride and doesn’t close his guard with it, instead using a butterfly hook to adjust the angle and to bail. He has the option to wrap around his other leg to look for back control and can also look for a cradle, return to the back ride or sprawl into his front headlock. Hernandez has a similar philosophy with the rest of his front headlock series - this way, even if he’s not getting the submission, he’s getting something out of the attempts: he makes his man work and keeps wearing on them, either settling into good positions or forcing his opponent to improve and eat strikes in the process.

It seems like Hernandez grappling and wrestling attacks aren’t made to get immediate control but instead to make his opponent work and absorb damage while they work they way back to their feet. Head pressure, ankle control, front headlocks, and back rides are all positions and tactics that are not immediately neutralizing at the beginning of the fight, as they give the option to work one's way out with a clear path - but force an opponent to pay with a chunk of their cardio, and this is maximized by “Fluffy” allowing his foes to work their way up only to set up big strikes and accumulating damage as well. Before they know it, they’re finally accepting the invitation to lay flat on their backs in half guard because of the exhaustion, and it’s is there (when he doesn’t have to concern himself with controlling a fresh opponent) that Hernandez seals the deal. That was the case once again versus Shahbazyan.

Join me in part two where I’ll discuss the striking bout between Borshchev and Maheshate and how the former won in impressive fashion.

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