Anthony Hernandez went from getting stopped by Sean Strickland at UFC Houston earlier this year to training with him and his team ahead of his follow-up fight.

Hernandez returns to the octagon six months after the loss to the, now, two-time middleweight champion to face Gregory Rodrigues in the main event of UFC Sacramento. “Fluffy†was asked about what he took away from the Strickland fight, and was able to move on from it pretty quickly.

“Don't lose,†Hernandex told MMA Fighting. “No, I had to make some adjustments, I mean, but, yeah, shit happens. Train with better guys, sharpen some shit up, and then make sure that I'm not doing dumb shit. … But yeah, I'm good, man. It is what it is. I really don't give a f*ck to talk about that fight, man. I'm not going to lie. I'm sorry, but like I really don't give a f*ck about the past.

“I'm focused on Gregory Rodrigues right now, that's all I can think about.â€

From there, Hernandez spent most of his summer in Las Vegas, leaving Sacramento, training partners, and even his family behind to chase his ultimate goal. Getting to work with Strickland and the team at Xtreme Couture, along with getting to utilize the UFC Performance Institute as much as he did was a huge eye-opener and game changer for Hernandez.

“It was great, man,†Hernandez said. “It was a f*cking blast. … It kind of re-sparked that [love for] martial arts for me, and I mean, I've been doing this shit for a long time. And to be honest, I was kind of getting sick of Sacramento anyways. So going out there was f*cking exciting. It was new. It was fun.

“A lot of the guys I fought, and there's a lot of new guys there so it's just like a lot of hungry guys, and they'll take your head off if you f*cking let them. So for me it was like about jumping in the fire and f*cking having to sharpen all my tools with guys with multiple layers, you know what I mean? And it was a f*cking great outcome for me. I had a great camp. Being at the [UFC] P.I., it was fucking amazing having everyone there — from f*cking Charles and Hannah with the meal preps and like just overall it was, I just made everything about fighting and I f*cking left home all summer. My wife, thank God for her, and the grandparents because they've been f*cking holding it down for me while I'm able to chase this dream and go out there and take full advantage.â€

During the interview, Hernandez seemed different. More locked in than ever before.

After dozens and dozens of conversations over the years, they've all been quite similar — laid back, loose, laughing and smiling. This time, it was a much different demeanor. The smiles were fewer, the focus was at an all-time high.

“I don't really feel like I've changed, to be honest, but I don't know,†Hernandez said. “I've always been a hothead, so I don't know, maybe I'm just getting older and I'm sick of people's shit. I don't f*cking know, man. I really don't know, but I'll tell you what, I'm focused as f*ck. I've been working my f*cking ass off. I've been chasing this f*cking dream, I've done everything it takes. So now let's just go out there and have fun and fight, the rest will handle itself. We'll see where the world takes us after Saturday.â€

Hernandez is 8-1 in his past nine fights, including stoppages against the likes of Roman Dolidze, Roman Kopylov and Michel Pereira, while also picking up a big win over Brendan Allen along the way.

Rodrigues looks to get his first UFC main event victory. In his first octagon headliner, “Robocop†was stopped by Jared Cannonier at UFC Vegas 102 in February 2025. Since then, Rodrigues has gone 3-0, including a first-round knockout of Brunno Ferreira in their rematch at UFC 326 in March.

For Hernandez, this is more than just a fight against a guy he has a lot of respect for.

“I knew who he was and he like he called me out, so it's like, if you think you can take me out, perfect. Let's f*cking do it,†Hernandez explained. “I know he's dangerous. I'm not sleeping on him.

“I know he's a really cool guy. I've met him and talked to him for like an hour before, but at the end of the day, this guy's got to take care of his family and so do I. So let's f*cking get it, see who the most violent man can be.