UFC Vegas 99 results: Anthony Hernandez overwhelms Michel Pereira with a late TKO victory

Michel Pereira pulled off a feat of endurance at UFC Vegas 99, nearly going the distance in the main event. The rest of the glory belonged to Anthony Hernandez.

“Fluffy” dominated his way to a fifth-round TKO victory on Saturday, overwhelming Pereira on the ground before referee Herb Dean intervened. When the fight ended, Pereira was bleeding from a sizable wound on his forehead, not to mention the sheer exhaustion Hernandez inflicted on him.

The result ends the eight-fight win streak for Pereira and extends the six-fight win streak for Hernandez.

Hernandez certainly looked like a middleweight contender at the end and presented himself as such after the fight.

“I’m ready for my belt. I’m not in my own way. Just give me what I need,” Hernandez said. “Give me someone who will give me a chance for a title. I’m damn ready, I’ll prove it to you.”

Pereira opened the first round with several combinations that seemed to have the potential to make the fight a short one. Looking back, this was definitely his best chance. Hernandez persevered, making as many takedown attempts as he could against Pereira, finally taking the Brazilian down in the final minute – on his eighth attempt. It was a sign of the future.

Pereira is a big middleweight and had to use all his strength to keep Hernandez at bay. It worked for the most part in the first round, but that resistance faded in the second as Hernandez continued to advance, making life hell on the ground.

Pereira’s corner was heard on the ESPN stream telling his fighter to try to use the third round as a recovery round, but they couldn’t have picked a worse opponent on the card to use that advice against. Hernandez brought Pereira down again within seconds. Pereira was gassed, and the best that could be said was that he didn’t have to waste much energy getting up for the rest of the round.

Hernandez went from 6-0 on the floor against Pereira in the first game to 21-0 in the second game, to 32-0 in the third game and so on. Hernandez secured the middleweight record for ground strikes in a single fight midway through the fourth round and the record for takedown attempts in the fifth round.

The final numbers: A 219-29 advantage in total punches for Hernandez, 152-24 in significant punches (125 from Hernandez went to the head), 97-0 in ground punches and 15:42 control time. Pereira won the first round on the scorecard of one judge, Derek Cleary. He had the next three frames all 10-8 in favor of Hernandez.

Rob Font stuns Kyler Phillips in the co-main

The card’s biggest underdog on Saturday was veteran bantamweight Rob Font, who had lost four of his last five fights and was seen as a stepping stone for the younger Kyler Phillips.

The first round went as expected, with Phillips taking advantage of the fight against the more boxing-focused Font. He outworked him, he landed a takedown, he ran at a good pace. But Font either found the fountain of youth or used his experience to deliver a stunning performance by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). The 37-year-old outscored Phillips 54-28 with impressive hits in the final two rounds. Phillips still landed some takedowns but couldn’t do anything with them, and he paid dearly for some other moves while Font figured out his timing.

Font’s pressure might not have worked against the top contenders who had recently defeated him, but it was too difficult a puzzle for Phillips to solve in 10 minutes.

For complete UFC Vegas 99 results, visit the Uncrowned results page.