UFC 246 free fight: Donald Cerrone humbles Alex Hernandez at UFC Brooklyn

Donald Cerrone might be a record-breaking great of the UFC octagon, but the UFC stalwart typically doesn’t engage in trash-talking his opponents before fights.

So, when No. 11-ranked lightweight contender Alexander Hernandez decided to make some noise and fire a salvo of verbal jabs in “Cowboy’s” direction ahead of their bout at UFC on ESPN+ 1 in Brooklyn, N.Y., in January 2019, it raised more than a few eyebrows.

But rather than opting to respond in kind, Cerrone laughed off the trash talk, bided his time, then delivered retribution in the old-fashioned way when the pair met inside the octagon on fight night.

A seemingly laser-focused Cerrone produced a brilliant performance, as he weathered some strong early pressure from Hernandez before finishing his man with a superb display of striking at Barclays Center.

Hernandez came out aggressively from the start and caught Cerrone with a solid uppercut in the early exchanges. But a head kick, then a takedown, from Cerrone served notice of what was to come later in the contest from “Cowboy.”

Hernandez kept pushing forward, looking to overwhelm Cerrone with his early work-rate, but the octagon veteran stayed composed and, after adjusting to the pace, found his mark with some nasty close-range punches and elbows. Cerrone then turned up the heat in the final minute of the round, connecting with more elbows and punches, and connecting with a beautifully-timed knee when Hernandez looked to change levels in search of a takedown.

And with the crowd on its feet hailing a superb opening five minutes, Hernandez headed back to the corner busted up and bleeding, while Cerrone calmly strolled back to his stool, seemingly without a care in the world.

It set things up perfectly for the second round and, after shrugging off an early Hernandez clinch, Cerrone picked up where he left off as he landed more solid punches from range, and punishing knees and elbows from the clinch.

Daniel Cormier suggested on commentary that Cerrone should finish his punching salvos with a kick, but “Cowboy” switched things up by opening with one, as he connected with a huge head-kick that dropped Hernandez to the mat.

Cerrone then followed his man to the mat and finished him with strikes to score a statement victory and show the the world that he remains one of the best finishers on the UFC roster. Recap Cerrone’s crowd-pleasing finish via the video above.

Cerrone returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 18 against Conor McGregor in the highly-anticipated main event of UFC 246 in Las Vegas. And a repeat performance from “Cowboy” would be just the way for Cerrone and his fans to kick off 2020 in style.