The best and worst from UFC 222

#3 Best: Alexander Hernandez takes his chance

Alexander Hernandez shocked the world with his win over Beneil Dariush

In many ways, the story of UFC 222 was all about capitalising on opportunities. Brian Ortega snatched his with both hands by beating Frankie Edgar, while Andre Soukhamthath largely threw his away. But on the undercard, nobody took their chance in more impressive fashion than newcomer Alexander Hernandez.

Tapped as a late replacement for the injured Bobby Green, Hernandez took last night’s fight with Beneil Dariush on just over two weeks’ notice and literally nobody gave him a chance. Sure, he was on an eight-fight win streak, but all of his wins were over nobodies, and he didn’t even have a Wikipedia page!

Dariush meanwhile was ranked as the #12 Lightweight in the world and had last been seen in a super-exciting fight with fellow top-fifteen ranked Evan Dunham. Hernandez evidently hadn’t gotten the notice that he was supposed to lose, though – and came out and cracked the far slower Dariush with a left hand that knocked him silly in just 42 seconds.

How far Hernandez can go is anyone’s guess but he’s now cemented himself as a UFC fighter and by knocking off a top-ranked fighter in his debut, it’s likely he’ll receive a big promotional push, too. It doesn’t get any better than that, really.