UFC star Anthony Hernandez has some terrifying words for fellow middleweight fighter Sean Strickland, who recently shared a racist social media post insulting his Mexican roots, saying he can’t wait to face Strickland “because I’m going to f**king torture him.”
The fourth-ranking middleweight will get that chance on Saturday, about a month after Strickland posted an image of himself as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent next to Hernandez in a poncho and sombrero.
Hernandez reacted on Tuesday’s episode of the New York Post show “Against the Cage.”
“Honestly, like, I laughed when I seen that shit,” he told host Scott Fontana. “I was like, if that’s the best you got to get in my head, it’s going to be a long fucking night. That shit does not faze me. It’s fucked up, yeah, and I don’t like seeing shit like that.”
Hernandez continued, “I don’t like that my people got to go through shit like that, you know what I mean? But it’s fucking life, and that’s the reality of it. Some people are just dirtbags and like to bring it up. But dude, I’m excited for the fight.”
Hernandez is certainly riding high after winning his last eight fights and securing his first bout against a former UFC champion in Strickland, and while the 32-year-old was born in Dunnigan, California, he takes great pride in his Mexican heritage.
Hernandez claimed on “The Ariel Helwani Show” last month that the UFC is less enthused.
“They almost didn’t let me walk out to represent Mexico anymore because I had to show a fucking proof of residency for Mexico,” he said at the time. “So like, dude, I don’t get special treatment, man. That’s why I’m on a fucking eight-fight win streak, you know what I mean?”
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While it remains to be seen if that streak continues Saturday, Strickland seems to be the clear-cut loser in the upcoming fight — not least of all because he called Puerto Rican rap sensation Bad Bunny a gay slur after his Super Bowl halftime show.
Strickland notably backed President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Hernandez revealed on Tuesday that he’s been “getting a lot of messages” from fans who are sick of Strickland and want Hernandez to “fuck him up,” and said he doesn’t plan on taking him out quickly: “I don’t mind fucking torturing a motherfucker for all 25 minutes.”
While the confident fighter said he initially laughed at Strickland’s racist social media post, Hernandez seems determined to put the screws to him, and said, “I hope he keeps that same fucking online energy in the fucking cage, because I’m going to fucking torture him.”
The Hernandez-Strickland fight airs at 8 p.m. ET Saturday on Paramount+.
