Anthony Hernandez doesn’t usually sound rattled. Win streaks have a way of doing that, especially when they are eight in a row and usually end with someone else tapping or folding. However, as UFC Houston approaches, the hype takes on a new tone. Not fear or doubt, more like a subtle admission that getting to this point hurt more than anyone realized.

On paper, this is the bout that will elevate “Fluffy” from contender to unavoidable. A major event in Texas, a former champion across the cage, and a division looking for its next title challenger. What wasn’t on the poster was Hernandez’s inability to work out, sleep, or cough without pain for several weeks. That part stayed buried—until now.

Anthony Hernandez admits injury nearly derailed his momentum

In a recent interview, Anthony Hernandez finally opened up about the injuries that led him to miss a crucial fight against Reinier de Ridder late last year, and he didn’t mince words about it. “No, I tore something,” he explained, declining to go into the details of the damage. Not out of mystery, but strategy. “I’m not gonna say it because motherf—— are gonna start targeting it.”

However, what he did explain was the experience. Three to four weeks of complete shutdown. ‘Fluffy’ confessed, “Yeah, it’s f——; it was horrible. I couldn’t cough, I couldn’t be like, I couldn’t sleep. Like, I roll over and s—. It was f—— killing me. It was like, it was just f——- annoying.”

The pain wasn’t dramatic; it was relentless. The kind that accompanies you to bed and waits for you to move. According to Anthony Hernandez’s own description, the injury was most likely an oblique or abdominal muscle tear. Pain during coughing, rolling over, or trying to sleep usually indicates a constantly engaged core muscle.

His fear about opponents targeting the area is equally understandable, as obliques are extremely vulnerable to body shots and clinch pressure. When combined with the three-to-four-week absence and ongoing stiffness, everything points to a core injury that doesn’t fully disappear—it’s just managed. And even now, he claims it isn’t perfect.

“I’m a little bit sore still… but it’s holding up,” he added. And to make sure that ‘Fluffy’ is fight-ready for UFC Houston, Anthony Hernandez stated that teammates have been hitting the area in training, testing it the hard way. If it was going to fail, it would have happened by now. The timing makes it even more interesting.

Anthony Hernandez is not backing down against a forgiving opponent. He’ll go five rounds with Sean Strickland, a former champion who thrives on pressure, volume, and dragging fights into uncomfortable territory. ‘Fluffy’ understands this. That’s why the message was so simple: the injury was real, it was awful, but for him it’s done.

“I’m f—— good again,” he declared. At UFC Houston, that claim will be put to the ultimate test. But before that, ‘Fluffy’ had to go through another test just to represent his country, as Anthony Hernandez recently revealed that he was forced to provide proof of residency ahead of his much-awaited fight.

‘Fluffy’ shared his grandparents’ birth certificates to represent Mexico

Anthony Hernandez’s confidence, which he brings to UFC Houston, wasn’t just tested in the gym. Before the fight week even began, he had to overcome a challenge unrelated to takedowns or pressure. To walk out under the Mexican flag, Hernandez was asked to prove his ties.

What followed was not some sort of publicity gimmick or a last-minute decision; it was paperwork, phone calls, and digging into family history in order to stand where he believes he belongs. Talking to Ariel Helwani, Anthony Hernandez explained that he had to present his grandparents’ birth certificates to confirm his eligibility, a process that forced him to revisit stories he grew up hearing.

“They almost didn’t let me walk out to represent Mexico anymore, because I had to show proof of residency,” Hernandez said. He further revealed that his father was smuggled across the border as a child. His mother’s side also has ancestral roots in Mexico. “I grew up super Mexican, so to me, that’s my pride, you know what I mean? Like, I carry a lot of pride with that,” Hernandez added.

For ‘Fluffy,’ the flag isn’t about branding. It’s lineage, pride, and a bond he’s had long before the UFC asked for documentation. But of course, Sean Strickland couldn’t help but poke at it. On Instagram, he shared an edited version of their fight poster to depict Hernandez in a traditional Mexican costume while portraying himself in an ICE agent uniform, diving into controversy in the way that only ‘Tarzan’ can.

Anthony Hernandez did not bite. Between fighting through injury and fighting for recognition of his heritage, the noise seems secondary. For ‘Fluffy,’ this fight is about proving his worth—on the card, in the division, and under the flag he has chosen to represent.