Image: Cage Fury Fighting Championship.
Luke Fernandez (6-0 MMA) touched down in Enterprise, NV earlier this week with the hope that his career trajectory would be forever changed through his appearance in Tuesday night’s DWCS 85. Inside the slimmed-down Octagon at the UFC Apex, he drew the assignment of Rafael Pergentino (5-1 MMA) in a light heavyweight contest.
Coming into the Contender Series fight on Tuesday evening, Fernandez boasted an 80 percent finishing rate. All but one of his professional fights in MMA resulted in a knockout.
As we’ve seen throughout the nine-year run of DWCS, it isn’t enough to just win the fight on a given late summer or early fall Tuesday evening in Nevada. Luke Fernandez clearly understood the assignment.
Image: Cage Fury Fighting Championship.
Luke Fernandez Makes Quick Work of Rafael Pergentino Tuesday Night
Although Luke Fernandez’s Tuesday evening fight against Rafael Pergentino was scheduled for three rounds at five minutes per round at the Apex, this young man only needed a sliver of the time allotted to get the job done effectively. Right from the word go, he connected on a jab, following it up with a right hand to his adversary’s jaw to sit him down.
Smelling blood in the water, Fernandez scored with a flurry of ground shots to force referee Jason Herzog to intervene. Out of a possible 15 minutes of action, Luke Fernandez ended the contest in a blistering 15 seconds of vicious striking.
After the fight, it was announced on the telecast that Fernandez’s knockout win over Pergentino is now the second-fastest knockout win in Contender Series promotional history. This was only the beginning of an entertaining Tuesday evening of action inside the Octagon in Enterprise.
All told, three of the five fights on the night ended via stoppage, with both contestants in the co-main event receiving UFC promotional contracts right after their fight ended.
Dana White Awards Luke Fernandez UFC Deal at Night’s End
It was only a formality by the time the close of the show rolled around, but in his weekly segment with analyst Laura Sanko, UFC CEO Dana White made it official.
“Let’s start with the first fight,” White began. “Obviously, I didn’t get to see anything in this fight, but what I did see was you treat a guy who was basically +800 (on the money line) like he should have been +3000. You absolutely destroyed him, so I guess I’ll have to see more of what you can do in the UFC. Get over here!”
Anybody who tuned into watch DWCS over ESPN+ on Tuesday night saw a hot prospect in action. Had the Fernandez vs. Pergentino fight been contested in the UFC, Luke Fernandez would have received a cash advance to the tune of $50,000 (USD) after the show.
Luke Fernandez Takes to the Podium for Presser
Following his performance Tuesday night, Luke Fernandez met with the media to talk about Dana White’s comments to Laura Sanko.
“Part of me thought ‘It was too short’ and he’s going to be like ‘I need to see more,’” Luke Fernandez told the press. “I mean, that’s not on me, in that sense. I can’t push the fight to go longer. I landed the first punch and it caused him to go down and I finished [the fight], but I mean, it was a little nerve-wracking.”
Fernandez views his success Tuesday night as the culmination of a career-long goal.
“It’s one of those things that every fighter dreams about when they start,” he said, “taking that journey and taking those walks to the cage. To get that opportunity, to get a contract is everything. Me and my dad and my coach have talked about this in the past. We’re working toward one thing, and now to have it come true in the sense of ‘I’m here, I’m finally at the point where I can start climbing a ladder’, it’s awesome. It’s amazing.”
Final Thoughts
Given that Luke Fernandez took zero damage in his highlight-reel victory on DWCS 85 this past week, he may very well be on the road to a quick turnaround for his UFC debut. We could be talking about Fernandez getting ready to fight again on one of the last shows of this year or one of the early cards next year.
He’s already won and defended the Cage Fury Light Heavyweight Championship in both the professional and NextGen divisions, in addition to the Cage Fury BJJ No-Gi Cruiserweight Championship this past summer.
With Fernandez’s impressive win on Tuesday night at DWCS 85 at the UFC Apex facility, he’s now reached the base of the staircase for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. How will he do on his climb to the top steps? Only time will tell.