That Hernandez is his teammate Alexander Hernandez, who is following up his first-round win over Chase Hooper last month with a bout against Diego Ferreira this weekend. It’s how this Colorado squad, which also includes Brandon Royval, is built. And while the name of the team changes weekly, the philosophy never wavers. This is a team of fighters, and Gurule (who is calling his squad Los Chupacabras this week) loves it. And having Hernandez going through fight week and the weight cut with him is an understated benefit.
“I think it does make it a little easier,” said Gurule. “You got that camaraderie and we’re already such a small team. We’re together every day, we’re training every day. Now it’s just making sure we’re both dialed in and we’re both mentally prepared because the physical part, that’s easy. Mentally, I think being able to help each other in that way is super important.”
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Hernandez picking up a big win was great for the team, and so was Royval’s Fight of the Night performance against Joshua Van in June. It made the summer easier for Gurule as he dealt with the aftermath of the first loss of his pro career to Ode’ Osbourne in April.
“I wanted to get back into it right away and things just didn’t line up,” Gurule said. “This was the first opportunity I had, so I spent a lot of time talking to them. Obviously, that was my first loss against Ode’, so trying to figure out just how to deal with it seemed so much. I’ve lost before in other sports with wrestling and stuff, and I just made a big deal about it in my head. But having Royval and Hernandez, and I talked to (Cory) Sandhagen a bit about it, it’s not the end of the world and as long as you’re taking stuff from it and getting better from it, what does it matter? Fifty percent of people go out there and lose. So if it’s you, it’s you. But as long as I put on a great performance, I don’t really care. So it kind of helps alleviate any ‘pressure’ that you put on yourself. Look at Brandon’s fight. Brandon lost his last fight, but it really seemed like he won. He’s never been more popular, and honestly, he’s still right there for the title shot. So yeah, it helps so much just being in that environment with these guys who have been in the UFC, and I’m just happy to be there around them and seeing them and having them push me every day.”
