Kamaru Usman points to Bo Nickal as Anthony Hernandez’s next middleweight test after two straight losses

Anthony Hernandez’s middleweight standing changed quickly after he looked poised to build on an eight-fight winning streak. Following the run, the UFC 185-pound division took note of the turnaround: Hernandez has now lost two straight, first to current UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland and most recently to Gregory Rodrigues in front of Rodrigues’ home fans at Golden1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., this past Saturday.

The setback against Rodrigues came after Hernandez’s earlier drop against Strickland, a bout that placed him directly in the championship picture even though the result did not go his way. With back-to-back defeats, the question for Hernandez is not whether he can compete in the middleweight mix, but which opponents provide the clearest route back to title contention.

Kamaru Usman, speaking in the wake of UFC Fight Night 285, framed the conversation around matchups rather than momentum. In his view, Hernandez still has plenty of viable work at middleweight, and the UFC’s matchmaking decisions should keep him in meaningful fights rather than sidelining him after two losses.

Usman also specifically highlighted Bo Nickal as a potential test for Hernandez. The implication of that comparison is straightforward: Nickal represents the kind of opponent whose athletic profile and wrestling base tend to challenge whether a contender can translate strengths under high-pressure, high-level scrutiny. For Hernandez, a fight with that type of stylistic pressure could clarify whether the recent skid reflects a temporary dip or a more durable issue.

Strickland remains the reference point for the division’s title picture, and Hernandez’s prior loss to the champion underscores the seriousness of his ceiling. At the same time, a second straight defeat, this time against Rodrigues, changes the timing. The middleweight landscape at UFC 185 is crowded with fighters looking for position, and Hernandez’s next opponents will largely determine whether he is treated as a near-term threat or pushed into a rebuilding phase.

The roster context matters because middleweight matchups often function like auditions for future title shots. A credible performance against a name such as Nickal would not erase the losses, but it could re-establish Hernandez’s relevance to the upper tier and put him back into conversations that matter beyond the prelims.

For now, the main takeaway is that Usman believes Hernandez still belongs in the middleweight conversation, and that the UFC’s next steps for Hernandez should be measured against opponent quality. The next fight will show whether Hernandez can respond by turning the question of “what went wrong” into an answer on the feet and on the mat.

If the UFC pairs Hernandez with Nickal or another high-leverage opponent, the division will learn more quickly where he sits after the stoppage of his winning streak. Hernandez’s immediate future, and the middleweight pecking order it affects, should become clearer as the promotion builds out the next wave of contender matchups.