Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Rodolfo Viera went into his fight at UFC 258 as a four-to-one favorite over Anthony Hernandez. One of the most accomplished competitive grapplers to ever compete in the UFC, Viera had a perfect MMA record to go along with all the hype. In short, he was expected to cruise against Hernandez.
Things didn’t go as planned, however. After quickly securing a takedown and dominant position on Hernandez, Viera seemed to exhaust himself in a matter of minutes. When Hernandez escaped back to his feet, Viera was completely gassed and a sitting duck for Hernandez’s strikes.
The finish came in the second round when Hernandez wrapped up a modified arm-in guillotine to earn a shocking upset.
On Sunday, Viera posted a lengthy statement about his UFC 258 defeat. Below is the Instagram-translated version of that statement:
“… yesterday was the worst day of my life, it was the worst performance of my life…” Viera wrote.
Viera even wrote that he hoped his opponent earned a performance of the night bonus, which he did. The huge upset netted Hernandez a $50,000 bonus.
Viera’s MMA career is far from over, but this is a serious bump in the road. Although this was just his eighth professional fight, he is 31 years old and his gas tank ran out surprisingly quickly. Still, the same work ethic and skill that led Viera to dominating Brazilian jiu-jitsu should help him in MMA. If he is able to fix his cardio issues, he has more than enough pure grappling skill to reach the elite of MMA.
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