Everyone loves an underdog story, so it was no surprise that Anthony Hernandez’s big upset win over Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) champ Rodolfo Vieira was big news coming out of UFC 258. Vieira was a -470 favorite to Hernandez’s +375, the widest odds on the card. You could bet on Hernandez to win via submission at an insane +3000. That means a $100 bet would result in $3,000 profit.
And that’s exactly what Hernandez did: he tapped Vieira with a guillotine choke two minutes into the second round.
The loss marks the first time an ADCC champion has been submitted in UFC, so you know Vieira’s gonna have a hard time living this defeat down. He certainly sounded bummed about things in this statement he released on Instagram (translated from Portuguese):
“Guys yesterday was the worst day of my life,” he wrote. “It was the worst performance of my life, it was my son’s first time watching me, despite being a baby and not understanding anything. That, on the one hand, was even good to not see the beating that his father took and still be finished !! LOL. It was also the first time I fight after my Grandmother passed away, she who was one of my biggest fans and watched all my fights, I really wanted to be victorious and dedicate it to them!”
“Unfortunately, not everything goes as we want,” he continued. “I’m still not understanding why I got so tired in the first round, I had some mistakes that I already know which ones, that will certainly be fixed, but really getting tired of the way I got tired I still haven’t I managed to understand! I had a great camp, I had the best weight cut to date, everything was fine … But I have to congratulate Anthony on his big win and I really hope he won the 50 thousand dollars of performance of the night.”
Anthony did indeed win a $50,000 performance of the night bonus.
“I I know I need to improve a lot, in everything, I never hid this and every day I train in search of this evolution!” he continued. “Anyway, it’s in the past. I just want to thank you all for the messages of encouragement and support that keep sending me, you really are unbelievable! I am very grateful to God, and I feel super blessed to have the family I have, the friends and of course the fans who even without knowing me personally can make me feel so strong, so important and so dear to you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, I love you.”
Rodolfo Vieira’s BJJ credentials, for those unaware of how wild it was to see him get subbed at #UFC258 pic.twitter.com/RLsI239gwg
— MMA mania (@mmamania) February 14, 2021
Vieira was undefeated (7-0) before his run-in with Hernandez, winning his first two UFC fights via arm triangle. It really looked like his third fight was going the same way, but Hernandez weaseled his way out of some tight spots and then used his time on the feet to light Vieira up. And as they say, every blow to the head takes a stripe off your black belt. Hernandez hit Viera enough to wear him down and open up the guillotine, earning an early contender for “Upset of the Year.”
For complete UFC 258 results and coverage click here.