Anthony
Hernandez is now on a two-fight skid in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship and he's accused his latest
opponent, Gregory
Rodrigues, of “cheating.â€

Rodrigues beat Hernandez by unanimous decision in a grueling
five-round bout at
UFC Sacramento. Both middleweights earned Fight of the Night
honors, but “Fluffy†has since accused Rodrigues of grabbing his
gloves during their grappling exchanges.

Hernandez claims Rodrigues repeatedly grabbed inside his gloves
during their Fight of the Night

While Hernandez praised “Robocop†for his toughness, he also
accused Rodrigues of grabbing his gloves as many as four times
during their fight to gain an advantage.

“I hit him a few times, I rocked his sh*t, he's a tough son of a
b*tch,†Hernandez said at the post-fight press conference. “I hit
him with everything and the kitchen sink, hit him with some hard
elbows, f*cker was cheating and grabbing the inside of my gloves
and I told [referee] Herb [Dean] that.â€

Hernandez even claims Rodrigues was warned after the alleged
infractions.

“I told f*cking Herb, ‘This motherf*cker grabbed my glove, like,
four times. Hey, he's grabbing my gloves,' and he told him, ‘Hey,
stop,'†Hernandez said. “But I mean, whatever. Don't take a point,
whatever. I guess people like to cheat, so it is what it is.â€

Rodrigues extended his win streak to four and called out Dricus Du
Plessis in his post-fight interview, while Hernandez will have
to regroup after picking up his second defeat.

Fluffy Hernandez was not happy after

#UFCSacramento last night 👀 pic.twitter.com/v4asZ41Nym

— UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount)
August 23, 2026

UFC analyst Michael Chiesa believes Michael Morales could be a real problem for Islam Makhachev in the welterweight division.

Right now, Islam Makhachev is on top of the mixed martial arts world. He successfully retained his UFC welterweight championship against Ian Machado Garry, and in doing so, cemented himself as a fighter who will now feature in the greatest of all time conversation.

RELATED: Islam Makhachev dismisses Michael Morales as No. 1 contender following UFC 330: “I don't remember when he fightâ€

Of course, there are a lot of contenders waiting in line, and that includes Michael Morales. The young prospect has been tearing through everyone at 170 pounds, and a lot of people feel as if he has earned the right to challenge for the strap, even ahead of Carlos Prates.

In a recent podcast, Michael Chiesa explained why he thinks Morales could serve as a legitimate threat to Makhachev.

Chiesa's view on Morales vs Makhachev

“Morales is the biggest guy at 170 pounds,†Chiesa said. “He is the biggest welterweight, so the size and the wrestling, I think that could give him more problems than Prates. But I do think prates has more capability of landing a knockout shot. At times Michael can get a little bit wild. The more wild you are with your striking, the better lanes are created for a wrestler to shoot.

“Prates, I feel like wouldn't get over extended too much, would do a better job throwing kill shots and not getting himself extended. Morales at times can be a little bit wild. But his wrestling chops, size, and physicality – I think that could pose a big problem for Islam.â€

Quotes via MMA Junkie

Get ready, fight fans, because things are really heating up in the welterweight division.

Do you agree that Morales could give the champ problems? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, BJPENN Nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

---

Reinier
de Ridder claims that the fight week ahead of his bout against
Caio
Borralho was the worst of his career.

The Dutchman suffered a lopsided unanimous decision loss in a
middleweight matchup against Borralho this past March, his last
outing at 185 pounds. He recently revealed that he had already
decided to move up to the
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight division
during fight week ahead of that bout.

De Ridder decided to leave middleweight during his weight cut
before facing Caio Borralho

The former two-division One
Championship titleholder recently recalled the days leading up
to the defeat to Borralho. He was coming off a stoppage loss to
Brendan
Allen, in which he visibly gassed out, prompting a corner
stoppage before the final round. “The Dutch Knight†has now
revealed that the weight cut for the Borralho fight was even worse
than the one that preceded the Allen bout.

“It was before the fight, during the weight cut I said, ‘This is
the last time. I'm never gonna do this again,'†de Ridder told Full
Send MMA. “That week was the worst fight week I've ever had.
Everything went wrong. That fight week was the worst week I've ever
had… Even worse than the Vancouver week. Nothing medical stuff,
wasn't a hospital, I don't want to make up any excuses, but it
wasn't good.â€

He finally moved up to 205 pounds for good against Roman
Dolidze at
UFC Sacramento, scoring a first-round stoppage to return to
winning ways.

Reinier
de Ridder admits he knew before the fight with Caio
Borralho he was leaving middleweight

“It was before the fight, during the weight cut I said I'm never
doing this again. Everything went wrong. That fight week was the
worst week I've ever had†pic.twitter.com/WZBmZR1XgB

— FULL SEND MMA (@full_send_mma)
August 23, 2026