Updated August 19, 2026
Anthony Hernandez and Gregory Rodrigues will meet in a high-stakes middleweight main event Saturday, August 22, at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, with both fighters entering the bout from very different recent positions. Hernandez is looking to rebound from his February stoppage loss to Sean Strickland, while Rodrigues has won 3 straight, including 2 first-round knockouts. Hernandez remains the higher-ranked fighter, but Rodrigues brings the kind of power that can change the fight with one clean punch.
Statistic | Anthony Hernandez | Gregory Rodrigues |
|---|---|---|
Age | 32 | 34 |
Height | 6'0" | 6'3" |
Reach | 75" | 75" |
Stance | Orthodox | Orthodox |
Record | 15-3 | 19-6 |
The physical matchup gives Rodrigues a 3-inch height advantage, but the fighters have identical 75-inch reaches. Hernandez enters with a 15-3 record and 9 submission victories, while Rodrigues is 19-6 with 12 wins by KO/TKO.
The biggest question in this fight is whether Hernandez can consistently turn the contest into a wrestling match. If he can, the matchup begins to tilt in his favor. Hernandez averages 5.88 takedowns per 15 minutes in his UFC career, along with 1.63 submission attempts per 15 minutes. He also lands 4.57 significant strikes per minute and absorbs 3.10. His 68% takedown defense gives him a solid foundation if Rodrigues tries to answer with grappling of his own.
Hernandez has already demonstrated how effective that approach can be against a physical middleweight. Against Roman Dolidze in August 2025, Hernandez landed 9 of 11 takedown attempts, accumulated 7:48 of control time and connected on 91 of 152 significant strikes before submitting Dolidze with a rear-naked choke in Round 4. That performance showed the value of his pressure-heavy style over an extended fight.
The problem for Hernandez is that his most recent fight exposed the danger of relying on a striking-heavy approach against an elite boxer. Sean Strickland stopped him with punches at 2:23 of Round 3 in February. Hernandez landed 55 of 122 significant strikes, while Strickland connected on 110 of 241 and scored the lone knockdown. Hernandez also attempted only 1 takedown.
Rodrigues presents a different striking threat than Strickland. He is less consistent with his volume, but his power is substantially more dangerous. Rodrigues has 12 career KO/TKO victories, and his 7 UFC knockout wins rank first among active middleweights in the UFC record book.
His latest performance illustrated that threat perfectly. Rodrigues stopped Brunno Ferreira with a punch at 1:47 of the opening round at UFC 326 in March. The fight was over after Rodrigues landed just 2 significant strikes, but 1 of those strikes produced a knockdown and the finish.
Rodrigues has also shown improved patience during his recent 3-fight winning streak. Before the Ferreira knockout, he beat Roman Kopylov by unanimous decision and stopped Jack Hermansson by first-round knockout. The combination of power and greater composure makes him a legitimate threat to Hernandez throughout the fight.
Still, the matchup favors Hernandez if he commits to wrestling early rather than trying to prove himself in extended striking exchanges. Rodrigues' takedown numbers are much less imposing: he averages 1.90 takedowns per 15 minutes, compared with Hernandez's 5.88. MMA Index also identifies a substantial wrestling advantage for Hernandez while rating the striking matchup essentially even overall, despite Rodrigues' clear edge in knockout power.
The 5-round format also favors Hernandez. Rodrigues has plenty of finishing ability, but his career average fight time is only 8:28, while Hernandez's UFC profile lists an average fight time of 10:36. A longer fight creates more opportunities for Hernandez to establish his grappling and pace.
My projection is Anthony Hernandez by unanimous decision, with the betting recommendation limited to Hernandez at a price of -175 or better.
