\u201cThe Great\u201d has spoken.<\/p>\n
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight Alexander Hernandez finally returns to action against Rafa Garcia at UFC Vegas 116<\/a> this weekend (Sat., April 25, 2026) inside the Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.<\/p>\n Hernandez was originally scheduled to face Michael Johnson at UFC 324 earlier this year, but the bout was abruptly scrapped on fight day<\/a> amid reported betting irregularities<\/a>. The situation sparked widespread speculation \u2014 including reports of potential federal involvement \u2014 and left Hernandez sidelined and silent in the months that followed.<\/p>\n Now, ahead of his return, \u201cThe Great\u201d is finally addressing the controversy.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, that was a headache and a half,\u201d Hernandez said during UFC Vegas 116 media day (watch here<\/a>). \u201cThat was a stressful five weeks. It\u2019s good to just be on the right side of it now and praying no f\u2014kery takes place this week. Obviously, a little bit of tension in the air over that in the back of my mind, but yeah, I\u2019m happy to be back.\u201d<\/p>\n Hernandez even compared the situation to overcoming false accusations, emphasizing how difficult the ordeal was mentally.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re making jokes, I\u2019ve felt the oppression of the people of the past here,\u201d he continued. \u201cLike, \u2018Bomaye, Alex Ali\u2019 or [Nelson] Mandela this week coming back from false accusations and get a chance to rise again. I\u2019m just stoked. I\u2019m stoked to be back doing what I was decent at.\u201d<\/p>\n Hernandez confirmed he has not been in contact with the FBI<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not talking to any authorities,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cI don\u2019t think the FBI comes out and issues any apologies, so it\u2019s hard for me to speculate on where anything\u2019s at, but I\u2019m in the grace of the UFC, and we\u2019re fighting. I have no fears or qualms with any bureau.\u201d<\/p>\n More broadly, Hernandez believes the situation exposed a gap in how fighters are protected when allegations surface.<\/p>\n \u201cI say this is uncharted territory,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cIt\u2019s the first time someone\u2019s been falsely accused of fixing a fight or doing anything like that, so it\u2019s new waters for everyone to figure out how to tread. I think there needs to be some kind of a protection over the combatants themselves. Who\u2019s looking out for me in that case or whoever it happens to next?<\/p>\n \u201cBecause yeah, you\u2019ve got uninformed prop bet profiles, unregulated bookings, and an uneducated bureau pressing on you, and no one\u2019s protecting the individual and looking out for him,\u201d Hernandez added. Everyone\u2019s covering their own ass and you\u2019re hoping to not get f\u2014cked in yours, so yeah, it\u2019s a bit of, again, just uncertain territory for sure, and there needs to be someone looking out for the fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n The controversy marked one of several betting-related incidents<\/a> in recent years, though Hernandez\u2019s situation now appears to be resolved enough for him to move forward with his career.<\/p>\n And from a competitive standpoint, he\u2019s in a strong position.<\/p>\n Hernandez enters UFC Vegas 116 riding a four-fight win streak \u2014 the longest of his UFC tenure \u2014 and is inching closer to a return to the Top 15<\/a>. His recent run includes back-to-back stoppage wins over Carlos Diego Ferreira and Chase Hooper (watch highlights<\/a>), showing a more dangerous and confident version of the once-streaky contender.<\/p>\n Now, with the controversy (seemingly) behind him, Hernandez gets a chance to remind everyone why he was once considered one of the division\u2019s most promising talents \u2014 and perhaps prove that his biggest fight this year wasn\u2019t inside the Octagon, but outside of it.<\/p>\n For the rest of the UFC Vegas 116 fight card and Paramount+<\/a> lineup click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Great\u201d has spoken. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight Alexander Hernandez finally returns to action against Rafa Garcia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,85,1396,179146,14855],"class_list":["post-624825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","tag-mma","tag-sports","tag-ufc-news","tag-ufc-on-paramount","tag-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}