Rising UFC middleweight contender Anthony "Fluffy" Hernandez sent a message to the rest of the division with a thrashing of Roman Dolidze.
Hernandez won Saturday's UFC Fight Night main event in dominant fashion, mauling Dolidze on the ground before submitting him with a rear-naked choke at the 2:45 mark of the fourth round at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
"I want a title shot," Hernandez said in his postfight interview. "What do I have to f-----g do?"
The win over Dolidze was the biggest moment of Hernandez's career and will be on the shortlist of best performances this year. Hernandez drowned Dolidze with pressure on the feet and elite grappling on the ground, giving him no room to breathe throughout the fight.
Hernandez outstruck Dolidze 120-39 and completed nine of 11 takedown attempts.
Midway through the fourth round, Hernandez got control of Dolidze in the clinch and landed a few knees to his head. He got behind Dolidze, cinched up a no-hooks, standing rear-naked choke, and then dragged him across the canvas as Dolidze tapped out.
Hernandez, who entered Saturday's main event as the No. 10-ranked middleweight, inserted himself into the title picture with the lopsided victory. The top of the division is crowded, with Dricus Du Plessis scheduled to defend the belt against Khamzat Chimaev next weekend in Chicago, and top contenders Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho slated to headline UFC Paris in September. But Hernandez is very much a player at 185 pounds and is due a big fight next.
"I want to prove that I can take a title," Hernandez said. "If it has to be a BMF title just to be a contender seat, then run it. I want a belt. I want something. I want to prove that I'm the best in the world."
Hernandez is riding an eight-fight winning streak and hasn't lost since May 2020. This was the 31-year-old's second main-event victory in his past three Octagon appearances.
Dolidze, ranked No. 9 coming in, suffered the first stoppage loss of his career. The 37-year-old Georgian's three-fight winning streak came to an end.
