Anthony Hernandez is certain his UFC Fight Night 267 loss to Sean Strickland will serve as a critical learning point in his career development.
Hernandez (15-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) saw his eight-fight winning streak come to an end Saturday when Strickland (30-7 MMA, 17-7 UFC) put him down with a third-round TKO at Toyota Center in Houston. "Fluffy" was a sizeable betting favorite for the headliner, but could not live up to the odds.
He made no excuses in the immediate aftermath of the defeat, both in the octagon and on social media.
"I thought it was going good," Hernandez told Michael Bisping during their in-cage interview. "I thought it was 1-1 maybe. Then I got sloppy, got caught with a f*cking knee up the center. It's all right. I'm going to go back to the drawing board and I'm going to get better. You've seen what happened when I lost last time. I made big jumps. It's just time to get back to work."
Hernandez, 32, was touted as having a strong chance to claim the middleweight title during his winning streak. The defeat marks a setback, but it's clear Hernandez is still confident in his ability to grow and be better.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Anthony Hernandez reacts to loss vs. Sean Strickland: 'I got sloppy'