Sometimes the progression of an athlete depends on more than physical talent. Success can be associated with several variables such as upbringing, surroundings, effort, passion, and mentality. The rare fusion of these ingredients is the recipe that constructs a skilled athlete to elite form. Young MMA prospect and proud San Antonian, Alexander Hernandez is the embodiment of the formula in which champions are born.
Hernandez is a proud resident of San Antonio and a University of Texas at San Antonio alum. In short, the city breeds winners. Tim Duncan, Becky Hammon, George Gervin, LTC John Russell, and the late Gabriel Rivera along with a host of other professional athletes have contributed to a winning culture. Without having professional NFL, NHL, MLS, or MLB teams, San Antonio has endured being the 20th most winningest city in the United States across the five major sports. Hernandez plans to etch his name into a cemented legacy of greats. While spending the majority of his adult life in San Antonio, Hernandez stated:
“People ask about me moving and things, again I’m not really interested in that”. “I got my friends and family here, and I mean my biological family and my gym family.”
In his young career, Hernandez is 2-0 in the UFC and 10-1 overall in his professional MMA career. Fans around the globe dropped their jaws in unison while witnessing the unmerciful 42-second KO of Beneil Dariush in his debut UFC fight at UFC 222. It’s not common for a fighter to debut on Pay Per View, but Alex seized the moment. That moment propelled him up the Lightweight ladder to a bout with Olivier Aubin-Mercier that went the distance and resulted in a 5-round unanimous decision victory at UFC on Fox 30. Stringing those victories together have placed Alex as the #11 Lightweight in the world and has set up his next fight with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone.
In a recent interview with Unknown MMA site creator, Chica, Hernandez stated that his next fight against Cowboy Cerrone (at UFC on ESPN+1 on January 19th, 2019) is “a great opportunity and another chance to put San Antonio on the map [and] build this legacy at Ohana Academy.” When asked about the matchup with Cerrone, he stated that “the matchup is great. I never worry about the matchups or the competition… It’s a year-round act for me.” While other fighters begin and end camps for opponents, Alex “The Great” trains year round and doesn’t particularly focus training on the specific opponent in front on him.
A large portion of what makes San Antonio athletes special is the psychological framework that produces them. The complex culture of sports psychology is ever growing with new skills, procedures, and applications that make up the DNA of a prosperous champion. Jack J. Lesyk, Ph.D (Ohio Center for Sports Psychology) believes that there are 9 mental skills that all athletes have who become champions; attitude, motivation, goals and commitment, people skills, self-confidence, mental imagery, dealing effectively with anxiety, emotion, and concentration. Observe Alex’s interviews and vlogs closely and examples of the aforementioned skills shine through him.
The aim to put San Antonio on the map has been exceeded. He may not feel it yet, but Alex is on his way to superstardom. A win over Donald Cerrone skyrockets the movement of a young fighter to a top seed in rankings and a new level of acclaim. An unyielding training pace and work ethic will continue strengthening the brand of Ohana Academy.
Alex plans to attain UFC gold by Spring of 2020. If he continues training hard and fighting with finishing intent, Alex will soon enter the company of San Antonio’s finest.
Follow Alex Hernandez on Twitter and Instagram. Follow Rory on Twitter: @RawrEWreckz and on YouTube here.
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