After nearly a year off from fighting, lightweight up and comer Alex Hernandez returned to action in July of last year and put together the best performance of his career to date. Against Chris Pecero at RFA 41, Hernandez was able to take control of the fight early and get a submission finish just shy of 90 seconds into the bout.
Unfortunately, Hernandez sustained an injury and has spent the last year and a half looking to get back to fighting.
“After my last fight I was really fired up and excited to get in there as soon as afterwards,” Hernandez told MMAWeekly.com. “I was gearing up for a camp and trying to get in shape, came in too hot from a strength and conditioning workout into a sparring session, and I ruptured my bicep. That set me back a bit.
“After the first few months I was able to rehab it aggressively, and then around six months it was starting to be more functional. (Since then) I revamped my training approach entirely. I work with a new personal trainer. I feel better than ever body-wise.”
Though in the recent past, he has focused on his business outside of fighting and missed time due to injury, Hernandez is once again fully committed to fighting and is excited for his future prospects.
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“That last fight sort of re-instilled my fire,” Hernandez said. “Now I’ve got that drive to do more with it like I was before. I changed my perspective towards it and again got that hunger. I’ve been trying to get somebody to take a fight, and finally the opportunity arose, so I jumped on it.”
Hernandez (7-1) will have his first fight of 2017 when he takes on Derrick Adams (10-4) in a main card 155-pound bout at LFA 27 on Friday in Shawnee, Okla.
“He’s a pretty well-rounded dude, but I don’t feel threatened by him in any sense,” said Hernandez of Adams. “I don’t see anything he can do to me. I don’t feel there’s a point he can out-craft me in. There’s no really a point where I can see him having any kind of advantage.
“My pace beats his pace. I’m more technical. I’m faster and stronger. He’s got a well-rounded idea, but I feel I put it together better a lot better.”
Now that he’s back to fighting, Hernandez is looking to kick things into high gear and make a case for himself to move up to the next level in 2018.
“There was a period where I was in the business frame, but I’m back over the last year and a half thinking of that goal of getting into the UFC and being at the top of that,” Hernandez said.
“I plan on running through Derrick, and then if I have to running another guy, and then I think with three highlight reels in the LFA, I’ll get the call from the UFC. I think Derrick is a good stepping stone to the UFC, and that’s all I see him as.”
