UFC Sacramento went down this past weekend (Sat., Aug. 22, 2026) inside Golden 1 Arena in Sacramento, Calif., leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Roman Dolidze, who suffered a head-scratching first round technical knockout defeat at the hands of Reinier de Ridder (highlights).
And Mason Jones, who was stopped by MarQuel Mederos in round two (highlights), while Kennedy Nzechukwu was sent to the shadow realm by Shamil Gaziev (see it here). But, which fighter is suffering
from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Anthony Hernandez.
Coming into his second straight headlining bout, “Fluffy” was hoping to get back on track after losing to Sean Strickland in a big-time Middleweight bout earlier this year (re-live that here). By doing so, he would avoid falling out of the Top 10. Unfortunately for Hernandez, things got a little worse before they had a chance to get better.
For five rounds, the two men went at it in what was a “Fight of the Night” – bonus winning war that resulted in Rodrigues having his hand raised. During the course of their battle, Hernandez had some success and showed heart, despite Rodrigues getting the best of him for the majority of the bout, including chopping his legs down with vicious kicks that sent him to the canvas. In the end, the judges awarded “RoboCop” the unanimous decision win, sending Hernandez home with his second straight defeat.
After the loss, Hernandez had some chose words for both referee, Herb Dean, and Rodrigues while claiming he came into the fight less than 100 percent.
“I made a couple mistakes,” Hernandez said at the UFC Sacramento post-fight press conference. “But man, when I took this fight, I was injured. Out for seven months. So I knew what I had coming into this. I had a f–king shoulder injury. I just got injections on Saturday so I wouldn’t feel my shoulder. All the f–king odds stacked against me.
“I seen him slow down [after the 2nd round],” Hernandez added. “I thought, ‘Okay, I’m gonna get him this round.’ And I hit him a few times and rocked his s–t. He’s a tough son of a bitch, man. I hit him with everything and the kitchen sink, hit him with some hard elbows. F–ker was cheating and grabbing the inside of my gloves, and I told Herb that,” he added. “I fight clean, man. So it is what it is. Maybe I should be more dirty.”
As far as what could be next for Rodrigues, perhaps a fight against Israel Adesanya is in order. This bout could still headline a card even though “The Last Stylebender” is on a four-fight skid, while “Fluffy” has lost two straight. Adesanya was last seen losing to Joe Pyfer in March of this year, so I could see him taking one more fight before year’s-end in an attempt to lock down his first win in three years.
