Billy Quarantillo was expecting a dog fight when he fought Alexander Hernandez at UFC 282 and that is exactly what he got.
When Quarantillo got the call to face Hernandez, he was surprised Alexander was dropping down to featherweight. Yet, after studying him, Quarantillo knew the first round would be tough, which is exactly what happened.
“I expected it to be a tough round. He got an early takedown but I got back to my feet and I noticed he was already busted up,” Quarantillo said to BJPENN.com. “I remember thinking I’m about to take over. I threw a big right hand and missed and he took me down. It was like an oh shit moment, and then he got the big elbow that cut me open pretty good. I knew I lost the first round. But, I did wear him out because I made him do so much. He took me down and I got back up which forced him to grapple with me. Then, in the clinch, I always threw knees to the body to try and slow him down. At the end of the first round, I was confident I was about to take over.”
Although Quarantillo had a big cut and lost the first round, he was confident he would go out and finish Hernandez in the second. He knew his knees to the body were key to slowing down Hernandez. In the second round, he says he broke Hernandez which resulted in the second-round TKO.
“I know my pace standing is a pain to deal with,” Quarantillo said. “But, the big difference between this fight and the Gavin Tucker one which was my worst performance in the UFC, was when I was starting to land on Gavin he would get a takedown and rest on top. Since I had the experience of that fight, I knew if I kept it standing, Hernandez couldn’t keep up with my pace. So, when I stuffed the two big takedowns I knew it was only a matter of time until I got that finish.”
With Billy Quarantillo getting his hand raised, he says he hopes to return in early 2023. The goal is to have an active 2023. Along with that, he hopes the next time he steps into the Octagon, Edson Barboza will be standing across him.
“I’m at the point in my career, I’m 5-2 in the UFC with a bunch of finishes and I want to build my platform,” Quarantillo said. “I don’t want to fight a no-name guy so I want to fight a guy like Edson Barboza. But, I would love to fight in Buffalo or Tampa Bay. So hopefully, the UFC goes there and I can fight Barboza on that card. It would be a fun fight for the fans.”
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