Austin Hubbard and Court McGee, UFC 307 ceremonial weigh-in Credit: Dylan Napoleone/Cageside Press
Lightweights Alexander Hernandez and Austin Hubbard faced off on the preliminary card of televised UFC 307 on Saturday, with Hubbard looking for his second win since returning to the promotion last year.
Hernandez is 1-4 in his last five fights, most recently dropping a split decision to Damon Jackson, and will be hoping to make up for a two-fight loss.
Hubbard pushed Hernandez back and took control of the center of the cage to begin the fight. Hernandez began to find range with his left hand late in the first round. Both fighters had success, but Hubbard couldn’t find an opportunity to change levels and Hernandez was getting into the swing of things with his hitting.
Hernandez’s stance switching and lightning fast attacks began to trouble Hubbard in the second round. Hernandez displayed excellent takedown defense and kept the fight in his own territory. Hernandez looked his best in a while through two rounds.
Hubbard turned up the intensity in the third round, landing some clean shots but with little venom. Hernandez defended further takedown attempts and briefly controlled Hubbard’s back. Both fighters appeared to stun each other at the end of the fight, but there was no finish. On the scorecards, Hernandez won by split decision, with the dissenting judge giving it a 30-27 Hubbard decision.
Alexander Hernandez has made it clear he’s up to 155 points heading into this game and will stay there. San Antonio’s “Great Ape” scored a long-awaited victory on his return to the lightweight division.
Official result: Alexander Hernandez def. Austin Hubbard (27-30, 29-28, 29-28) split decision
