Alexander Hernandez is also a thinking man’s fighter, always analyzing and breaking things down. So has he started having that 30-year-old conversation with himself?
“I’m not because we’ve got the whole year until we get there,” he said. “That’s why I’m not prepared for that. A lot of that conversation’s gonna depend on February and, God willing, June or July. There’s gonna be a few more markers to happen to where we’re sitting back and we’re like, ‘Hey, this is all right,’ or ‘Man, I wonder what they’re doing in the mortgage business right now.’”
Hernandez, a former mortgage loan officer, laughs, but he’s not going anywhere. Things are going too well for the lightweight standout in the sport he decided to leave the world of banking for. Entering his Saturday meeting with Renato Moicano, Hernandez has won two of his last three, with first-round knockouts of Chris Gruetzemacher and Mike Breeden sandwiching a decision loss to Thiago Moises. The win over Breeden saw the San Antonio product in particularly sharp form, even if we only got to see 80 seconds of him before he ended the fight.
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“Shoot, you do that five times in a row, it would be all right,” he said. “If they could all go that well, that would be sweet. But that was the first win I felt bad about. Of course, we’re trying to do that to each other, but I didn’t really feel good about it. I felt good and grateful to get a W, but I didn’t feel good about making that that guy’s debut experience.”
Breeden’s UFC debut came on short notice, with the Missouri native stepping in for the injured Leonardo Santos. And while the two come from different camps, Breeden’s coach – James Krause – is close with Hernandez’ coach – Marc Montoya, and the Glory MMA and Factory X teams are almost seen as sister schools. But business is business, and Hernandez did what he had to do to get the win.