All eyes are on the UFC Vegas 99 main event between Michel Pereira and Anthony Hernandez! As the promotion lands back at the Apex Arena, the middleweight headliner takes the spotlight as both fighters attempt to inch closer to the top 10 spot in the rankings. Both competitors are riding long winning sprees, which has made the matchup even more exciting.

But before we begin to speculate the proceedings of the fight, let’s take a look at the stats the middleweight fighters have amassed in their MMA tenure. After all, that’s the only way we can correctly predict the winner.

UFC Fight Night: Michel Pereira vs. Anthony Hernandez Prediction stats

Pereira has amassed 31 victories in his professional MMA career. However, his career has also witnessed 11 losses and 2 no-contests. Out of the 31 victories, the ‘Demolidor’ has won 11 bouts via KO/TKOs and 8 by submissions. Not to mention he has gotten himself the Performance of the Night bonus on the last 3 consecutive fights. Currently, on an 8-fight winning streak, the Brazilian mixed martial artist will step into the Octagon as the contender with more experience under his belt.

In his last fight against Ihor Potieria at UFC 301, ‘Demolidor’ extracted quite a few ‘Ooh La Las’ from the crowd as he executed a standing guillotine, making his opponent tap out within the very first round. His last two fights against Michal Oleksiejczuk and Andre Petroski were also first-round finishers. What’s even more promising for the Brazilian is that he took less time to finish each opponent than the previous one in his last three bouts.

On the other hand, Anthony Hernandez has been quickly rising up the ladder. Although Hernandez and Pereira are both 31 years old, ‘Fluffy’ has significantly fewer fights under his name. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t one to be wary of. With 12 wins and 2 defeats in his professional MMA record, the American is on a 5-fight win streak. 

Just like Pereira, ‘Fluffy’ also received a Performance of the Night bonus in his last fight. After all, he defeated Roman Kopylov with a rear naked choke in the second round of their fight at UFC 298. Following a couple of canceled bouts, the 2018 Dana White’s Contender Series alum finally got the chance to step back into the Octagon. No wonder he looks up to win and extend his winning streak.

But how would the fight proceed? While Pereira has a unique fighting style, Hernandez likes to dominate in the later stages of the fight. Let’s put on our speculation caps and analyze how the fight might proceed.

Pereira vs. Hernandez breakdown and prediction

Pereira is infamous for the acrobatics he showcases inside the MMA cage. Is that some kind of intimidating factor that he uses? To be honest, it is indeed one formidable fighting style that can be pretty unpredictable at times. Executing capoeira along with karate, Pereira sure loves to throw flashy kicks hailing from Shotokan and Kyokushin roots. Not to forget his better-than-average grappling skills. 

Hernandez is also an aggressive fighter, who tends to combine powerful strikes with high-level grappling. Generally sticking to rear-naked chokes and armbars, Hernandez likes to weather his opponents out first and then go in to finish the fights. Of his 6 UFC wins, 5 were finishes, and 4 of them came via submission. If he can survive the first couple of rounds against the Brazilian, ‘Fluffy’ will indeed have a good enough chance at winning. 

But Pereira’s unorthodox style and unpredictable moves can be huge boulders blocking the American’s way to an easy victory. No doubt, ‘Demolidor’ will do his best to finish the fight in the first 2 rounds. But given his opponent’s gas tank, the fight might just go beyond ten minutes. Since he toned down the acrobatics and took a more focused approach, Pereira has been finishing fights as opposed to the decision wins from a few years ago. His last two wins came via submissions in the opening round. If he keeps his head, he might catch ‘Fluffy’ early on.

What are your thoughts on the middleweight matchup? Who do you think will win at UFC Vegas 99? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.