Anthony Hernandez proved once again that cardio is king.
In his first fight of 2023, Hernandez ramped up the intensity and pressure as the fight against Edmen Shahbazyan went on. Eventually, referee Herb Dean stopped the fight at 1:01 of the third round. The fight served as the UFC Fight Night 224 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and aired on ESPN+.
Hernandez (11-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) and Shahbazyan (12-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) turned in a very competitive, high-paced first round. However, things would become more one-sided from that point on.
In the second and third rounds, Hernandez turned up the pressure and smothered his opponent with a heavy grappling attack that included a number of choke attempts. A few of the submissions were tight and appeared to nearly end the fight, but each time, Shahbazyan found a way to slip out. Never discouraged though, Hernandez just went right into the next attacks, such as raining down hard short elbows and knees to the body, which wore down Shahbazyan before the stoppage in the third round.
Check out video of the ending sequence below (via Twitter):
4️⃣ straight W’s for Anthony Hernandez 📈 #UFCVegas73 pic.twitter.com/J5g8ODN17J
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 21, 2023
With the win, Hernandez extends his current win streak to four. Having not tasted defeat since 2020, Hernandez entered with consecutive wins over Rodolfo Vieira, Josh Fremd, Marc-Andre Barriault. The stoppage of Shahbazyan was Hernandez’s fourth of his UFC tenure.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 224 results include:
- Anthony Hernandez def. Edmen Shahbazyan via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:01
- Joaquin Buckley def. Andre Fialho via knockout (head kick and punch) – Round 2, 4:15
- Diego Ferreira def. Michael Johnson via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 1:50
- Viacheslav Borshchev def. Hayisaer Maheshate via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:37
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Vanessa Demopoulos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Gilbert Urbina def. Orion Cosce via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:55
- Rodrigo Nascimento def. Ilir Latifi via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Chase Hooper (def. Nick Fiore via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Natalia Silva def. Victoria Leonardo via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:58
- Themba Gorimbo def. Takashi Sato via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 224.
