Alexander Hernandez had a golden opportunity heading into his featured preliminary card bout against Donald Cerrone at January 19’s UFC on ESPN+ 1 from Brooklyn, New York.
Instead of picking up by far his biggest win, “The Great” was systematically dismantled and stopped via second-round TKO. The fight was clearly Cerrone’s at a certain point, with Hernandez having only a few moments of success early. But Hernandez attributes the loss to those few scant moments.
Speaking to MMAjunkie Radio, he admitted the early shot he landed made him press the action too much:
“I could see him starting to question things, question himself, and instead of sitting back and being patient, I had this idea in my head I had to get the next one,” Hernandez said. “Where I pressed, he was patient. I pressed to my demise, I gave him shots.
“I was forcing shots that weren’t there instead of picking the ones that were readily available if I played a smarter game, I started exposing myself to shots, giving shots, letting that clinch game open. That was kind of the edge of the fight.”
The Turning Point
Hernandez pointed at an elbow landed as the turning point, believing it gave Cerrone the edge in the mental part of the fight. With that said, he admitted he should have slowed his pace:
“(I) landed a good elbow over the eye, and when you start to see someone leaking, it’s kind of this primal instinct and a big adrenaline buster. You can taste the blood and when you make eye contact, it’s like, ‘Mother(expletive), I just gave this guy the edge.’ He knew it, too. I didn’t stop bringing it, and I should have slowed down at times. I got him on his heels moving, and I had it in my hands. To my own demise, I fell on my own sword.”
Hernandez closed by being hard on himself. He admitted that he always expects to demolish his opponent. When it doesn’t happen, he said he gets impatient, and that’s a part of his game he needs to fix:
“I went in there, and I just expected to execute against (my opponent),” Hernandez said. “I know wholeheartedly that I’m capable of it, but when it doesn’t happen I start questioning, and I start forcing, and I get impatient, and that’s rookie (expletive) that needs to change.
“I’m the most aware person I know, and I think cognitively. I’m above any of these guys. And I know if there’s anybody who can make these (expletive) adjustments, it’s me.”
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