mma

Alexander Hernandez Wants to Face Justin Gaethje in His Next Fight

October 30, 2018 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Vicente Luque Curtis Millender UFC on FOX 27 UFC Logo - UFC Shanghai - UFC Fight Night 115 Image Credit: UFC

Alexander Hernandez spoke with MMAjunkie for a new interview. Highlights are below:

On wanting to face Justin Gaethje: “Right now it’s Gaethje – that’s the guy who is available. Everybody else is booked up. I would love to take out that guy. I know I’m the best and I have to beat all these men to get to the top. I’m not going to discriminate against anybody; it doesn’t matter their name, shape or style. I just want a number.”

On the potential fight: “I’ll leave my foot in his ass****– that’s the only piece of myself I’ll leave behind. Our fight would either be a complete highlight-reel for me or it would be like all his other fights where it’s certainly a brutal match. I think I can approach this fight more intelligently and stylistically diverse than his other opponents. I can make it a highlight-reel for myself. I have a ton of respect for the guy, I know he’s dangerous as (expletive) so it could be a brutal war.”

On Gaethje’s likelihood of taking the fight:,/b> “A lot of people have trepidation toward taking certain matchups. Especially against like me, who is young and coming up and they have a lot more to lose than gain fighting me just based on me being new on the scene and not having as big a pull of popularity as the other guys who have been around for a long time. Gaethje seems like a very game opponent. He’s always game to fight, he just needs time. I’m hoping he bucks up. Hopefully the UFC makes it happen.”

On why Gaethje is a good fight for him: “I’m in a place where I want this climb to the top to be aggressive, but I also got to respect those around me. I’m not going to be the next one in line after my next fight, or even after two fights. I pride myself on self-awareness and I don’t think four fights in I should be fighting for a title. I need to continue to grow and I need to learn a ton. I want to be in the eyes of Dana White in the UFC so I’m not getting trampled on like Tony Ferguson or these other guys who have to fight nine or 10 times to get any kind of looks. But I’m certainly not trying to rush it.”