Alexander Hernandez expects to pick Thiago Moises apart and “dismantle” him

Alexander Hernandez is extremely confident he will extend his winning streak to two on Saturday night.

On the prelims of UFC Vegas 20, Hernandez is set to return to the Octagon against Thiago Moises. It’s an intriguing matchup but it did come as a surprise that “The Great” didn’t get a ranked opponent. However, Hernandez says he didn’t want a ranked foe.

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“I want to climb the ladder the right way. After getting smoked, I realized getting smoked for peanuts doesn’t pay the costs,” Hernandez said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I wanted to build myself up the right way. Also, I was also way too inexperienced and I wasn’t prepared for those guys. I just needed to get some new perspectives, a new general and just kind of heighten my IQ before entering the top-15 rankings again.”

Entering the fight, the consensus is that Hernandez is the better striker while Moises has the advantage on the ground. Yet, Hernandez doesn’t think that is true at all, as he believes the Brazilian only gets a good rep for his ground game for earning submission wins over fighters who don’t know jiu-jitsu.

“I’m not fearful of anything, I’m not scared of going into Thiago’s guard. A lot of people are overhyping and overanalyzing his leg attacks but he is doing it against guys who never bothered learning jiu-jitsu,” Hernandez explained. “They get hit and they panic and the flee or respond poorly. They then get finished and people freak out over this masterful jiu-jitsu attack, it wasn’t. When I watched that Johnson attack it wasn’t shit. Johnson just wasn’t educated in that level of jiu-jitsu.”

In the fight, Hernandez is confident he will get his hand raised but won’t be predicting anything. If the finishes comes he will take it, but knows at this point of his career, it is just about getting wins and working on his overall game.

“I can pick him apart and pick my shots. He is predictable. For me, I think I was dismantle him early and will disrupt his composure with just complete foreign attacks on our and when he overextends to grapple or counter back that is when my clarity goes through and I will dispose of him on the feet or the ground,” Hernandez said. “If it goes to the ground, I’m more than willing to go down to the ground and smash him. I always want stoppages, but I’m not calling all this shit and setting these expectations. I have complete respect for Thiago’s drive and I have complete respect for his striking and ground game, I just believe mine is better.”

If everything goes Alexander Hernandez’s way on Saturday, the goal is to be active in 2021. However, he says he’d like one more fight outside the rankings before he makes the move back into the top-15.

“May or June… I was saying yes to everyone for peanuts. I think I would get one more fight then get into the rankings,” Hernandez concluded.

Do you think Alexander Hernandez will beat Thiago Moises at UFC Vegas 20?