Rodrigues shocks Hernandez by unanimous decision in Sacramento

Gregory Rodrigues walked into Sacramento as the No. 11 middleweight and a heavy underdog on paper against the surging Anthony Hernandez — and walked out with a unanimous-decision win over the division's No. 6. Twenty-five full minutes, all three judges in his favor, and the kind of result that scrambles a top-10 that had been treating Hernandez as a lock for the next tier.

This one matters because of who Rodrigues stopped in the process: not just a ranked name, but a genuine momentum train. Hernandez arrived as a finisher (9 of his 15 wins by submission) and the fight went the distance anyway, which tells you Rodrigues neutralized exactly the areas that made "Fluffy" so dangerous. At 20-6, Rodrigues now has the signature win his career had been missing.

De Ridder Wastes Nobody's Time

The co-main was over almost before it started. Reinier de Ridder, ranked No. 9 at middleweight, moved up to light heavyweight and knocked out Roman Dolidze via punches at 4:01 of the first round. That's a statement finish from a fighter whose 22-4 record leans heavily on submissions (13 of them) — proving the hands are catching up to the grappling.

For Dolidze (15-6, No. 15), it's a rough night at a heavier weight and a result that likely costs him ground in the middleweight rankings he'd fought hard to hold. De Ridder, meanwhile, has now shown he can win convincingly across two divisions, which is exactly the kind of flexibility that gets a fighter fast-tracked toward the sharp end of a title picture.

Heavyweight Names Rise

Vitor Petrino delivered the card's other big ranking swing, taking a unanimous decision over No. 6 heavyweight Serghei Spivac across three rounds. Petrino came in unranked; beating a top-six heavyweight over 15 minutes should change that in a hurry. For Spivac (18-7), it's another setback that stalls what had been a steady climb.

In the heavyweight opener, unbeaten Anthony Wint kept his perfect run intact, submitting Terrance Chatman by arm triangle at 4:29 of round one to move to 9-0. It's early days, but a first-round finish over a fellow prospect is exactly how you build a name in a division always hungry for fresh bodies.

The Rest Of The Main Card

MarQuel Mederos handed Mason Jones his first UFC-level derailment in a while, stopping the Welshman by punches at 2:07 of round two. Mederos is now 12-1-1 and, notably, does his damage on the feet — all seven of his wins by knockout, zero submissions — so this was a matchup that played to his strengths and he cashed it in.

Carli Judice needed the least time of anyone on the card, ending Jeisla Chaves with a first-round head kick at 1:39. Chaves came in at 8-1 and left with her first loss; Judice's 7-2 line now carries a genuinely eye-catching finish. It's the kind of quick, clean stoppage that gets a women's flyweight noticed by matchmakers.

Prelim Notes

The undercard was a finishing clinic. Shamil Gaziev needed 80 seconds to blast out Kennedy Nzechukwu with a single punch, the fastest stoppage of the night, while Jamall Emmers, Marcio Barbosa and Jackson McVey all closed the show inside a round. Chris Padilla dragged Nasrat Haqparast into deep water for an arm-triangle submission at 4:59 of round three — about as late a finish as you can get — and Shanelle Dyer spoiled Elise Reed's night with a third-round TKO. Stan Dorsainvil's decision over Gauge Young was the rare prelim that needed the judges.

What It All Means

For Rodrigues, the ask now is obvious: he beat the No. 6, so he should be matched with someone above him, not below. Hernandez, for his part, doesn't fall out of the elite conversation on one decision loss — but he does have to answer questions about why a career finisher couldn't put away a guy ranked five spots below him. De Ridder and Petrino are the two fighters whose stock genuinely jumped tonight, and both should get ranked opposition next.

The biggest takeaway is a simple one: the middleweight-adjacent picture just got messier in the best way. Rodrigues stole the spotlight, but De Ridder's cross-division knockout is the result that changes the most conversations — a submission specialist proving he can end nights with his fists, at a new weight, in barely four minutes. Sacramento didn't produce a title fight, but it produced two men who now demand one soon.