There was one fighter who certainly had a vested interested in the UFC Jacksonville bout between Drew Dober and Alexander Hernandez.
Diego Ferreira was scheduled to face Dober May 2 in Oklahoma City before the event was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Dober went on to face Hernandez on Wednesday night’s main card and picked up a second-round TKO victory, and likely an entry into the lightweight division’s top-15.
“It was kind of sad for me because I want to fight Dober real bad,” Ferreira said while appearing on MMA Fighting’s What the Heck. “I’ve wanted to fight him for a while, and he’s a guy I’ve looked at and said, ‘Damn, this guy is good. It’s gonna be good to fight him one day.’
“We were matched up to fight (again), but I never got the contract. I hope one day we can get in the cage and put our game on because I like his style. I love to get in there and punch each other in the face inside the cage. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but I look [forward] to fighting him one day.”
After becoming the first fighter to ever submit Anthony Pettis at UFC 246 in January, Ferreira entered the top-10. With six straight wins under his belt, Ferreira was surprised when the matchup between Dober and Hernandez was booked, leaving him as the odd man out.
While he still hopes to be rebooked with Dober on a future event, Ferreira admits that he was hoping Hernandez would be the one with his hand raised in the empty VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
“I was hoping Alex would win so I could smash his face. I don’t like that guy,” Ferreira said. “He talks too much and I don’t like the way he expresses himself sometimes. He tries to look down on people when he’s not even out there that much. He thinks he’s all that and I don’t really like a person like that.
“I hope we get to get in the cage and fight. I’m really looking forward to getting there and smashing his face.”
The pandemic has caused a few curveballs to be thrown Ferreira’s way over the last few months. Not only did the Fortis MMA trained fighter lose on out on opportunity to compete, but his scheduled wedding celebration was postponed as well.
With the state of Texas beginning to phase out restrictions, Ferreira is beginning to see some semblance of normalcy in his life. When the UFC calls, he won’t need long to get ready.
“Give me a month and a half,” Ferreira stated. “Thank God my gym is open right now and I can get back to my normal training. So give me a month and a half, I’ll be 100-percent ready to get in the cage for sure.”
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