Alex Hernandez says Donald Cerrone quit in Conor McGregor loss, not interested in rematch

HOUSTON — Alex Hernandez was turned off by Donald Cerrone’s latest performance.

The lightweight prospect didn’t enjoy the way Cerrone fought against Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC 246 on Jan. 18 in Las Vegas. Hernandez (11-2 MMA, 3-1 UFC), who lost to Cerrone back in January 2019, was hopeful to get a rematch with Cerrone in search of revenge, but on Thursday, Hernandez claimed he no longer has interest in rematching “Cowboy” after his 40-second defeat to the Irish superstar.

“That performance made me flaccid,” Hernandez told reporters, including MMA Junkie. “I had this hard on and this vindictive mind that I was going to come and conquer and slaughter ‘Cowboy’ and get my revenge. It was all out of respect because he is who he is and he beat me, so for me I had this vendetta and I had to go get it.

“The erection that I woke up with every morning with this (expletive) vengeance in mind just fizzled in air and now I don’t want anything to do with that fight. You can call it whatever you want, I don’t need to say anything else about it, I already rambled enough.

“It’s just I watched that fight, and yeah, McGregor did something special, but he quit. You’re going to give me that (expletive) and you’re going to (expletive) quit, like you’re going to give me that performance and you’re going to give McGregor whatever the (expletive) that was? That’s the thing about ‘Cowboy’, sometimes he shows up, sometimes he doesn’t. I definitely lost the lust for that fight after that performance.”

After the loss to Cerrone, Hernandez picked up a decision win against tough veteran Francisco Trinaldo in July. He hasn’t fought since, as he had to get shoulder surgery. Now recovered, Hernandez is training and feeling 100 percent.

Hernandez feels he’s learned a ton despite the little time between his first UFC defeat and now. The 27-year-old fighter says he was bound to lose with the mentality he carried into fights prior to the Trinaldo win.

“It was almost inevitable,” Hernandez said. “If it wasn’t Cerrone, it was going to be the next guy with the way I was approaching the fights. I was going into these fights to slug them out in the first two minutes of every fight. That was my mind set. I just don’t talk sh*t, I’m just being transparent, I’m just being confident. It gets confused as arrogance but it’s just awareness, so for me I’ve got no reason to doubt that I’m not going to put this man away.

“Every time they would show me his face, I was like ‘He’s getting older by the minute, I’m about to cripple this man, and I went out there an he did the damn thing. I was like, ‘Ok, this is a reality check that these guys in the top 10 just don’t fold over, they’re not just going to break, they’re not just going to take a hit – as long as you don’t get lucky and knock them out.’

“But as a career, you can’t make that your benchmark on how you’re going to perform. For me, I had to hit the drawing board and figure out how to slow down and compose myself. In that last fight, I did a 180 in the other direction, specially with the shoulder, so I kind of found this middle ground, I found this solace where I’m like, ‘Here’s where I can perform, I’m not going to blow my load in the first 30 (seconds), I’m not going to float on the outside, I’m going to deliver my fight, so that’s where I am.”

Hernandez is hoping to return soon and he wants to do three fights in 2019. He also has a few names in mind on who he’s like to face next.

“I’m looking at (Gregor) Gillespie, (Carlos Diego) Ferreira, Islam (Makhachev), (Al) Iaquinta, who I hear is off the grid, anyone who’s not booked in the top 10,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been shooting for Al for a while, I called out Pettis before that last fight and Ferreira won, so I guess I’m looking at Ferreira.”