UFC Vegas 99 Preview
The UFC is invading The Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, October 19 for UFC Vegas 99. The main event will be in the middleweight division as surging contenders #13 Anthony Hernandez and #14 Michel Pereira will battle to climb the rankings at 185 pounds.
Hernandez has won five straight fights and most recently defeated Roman Kopylov by second round submission at UFC 298 in February. His last loss was to Kevin Holland in 2020, since then he has been locked in having finished four of his last five fights.
The 30-year-old is soaking in the moment of his first headlining fight. “A fight’s a fight. I’m happy as hell my face is finally on a poster,” Hernandez said.
“I’ve been waiting for that for a long time, and everything is finally starting to happen. My life’s getting a lot better, my kids have a roof over their head, I’m healthy, they’re healthy. Now I get to go have fun and be violent.”
Hernandez talked about his opponent and what kind of fight to expect. “I don’t know. It’s hard to say because Pereira in the third round, respectfully, he looks like sh*t. He’s wild as f*ck, he can catch you and knock you the f*ck out, so it’s like oh sh*t,” he said.”
He concluded, “I think that, if everything goes right and my hands are up, I think I finish him. Just because the way he gases and the way I don’t gas. It’s perfect for me, but now it’s just go do it.”
Pereira has won eight straight fights and is 3-0 since returning to the middleweight division. In his last fight he defeated Ihor Potieria by first round submission at UFC 301 in May. The 31-year-old has won performance of the night honors in his last three fights and has looked as dangerous as ever.
The Brazilian fighter same as Hernandez is fighting in his first main event. He commented by saying, “It took longer. I think I should have already had a main event, but everything has the right time,” Pereira said.
“Everything comes with the right timing.”
Pereira continued, “I wanted to fight in The Sphere. I don’t know why they actually put it here, but it turns out it worked out. I end up with my first main event. Very happy about that, but I wanted to fight in The Sphere,” he said.
While he respects Hernandez, Pereira is ready to finish the fight. “A tough opponent. A guy that’s got a lot of stamina, a guy that likes to push forward, but I’m very prepared for his game,” he said.
“I do not think that this fight’s going to go five rounds.”
Pereira comes into the fight as the underdog, but he will not let that phase him. “I don’t pay attention to that because I do think he’s coming off four or five straight wins in the division, so I understand why people would say that,” Pereira said. “It’s the merit to his credit, much respect to him. I’m accomplishing that, and I’m making my own accomplishments right now. That’s what I’m going to get to in this division as well.”
The rest of the main card:
Bantamweight #10 Rob Font vs. #12 Kyler Phillips
Flyweight - Charles Johnson vs. Su Mudaerji
Featherweight - Darren Elkins vs. Daniel Pineda
Flyweight - #7 Matheus Nicolau vs. #14 Asu Almabayev
ESPN+ Prelims:
Bantamweight - Brad Katona vs. Jean Matsumoto
Women's Bantamweight - Joselyne Edwards vs. Tamires Vidal
Women's Strawweight - Jessica Penne vs. Elise Reed
Women's Strawweight - Melissa Martinez vs. Alice Ardelean
Heavyweight - Austen Lane vs. Robelis Despaigne
