One-eyed fighter wins MMA debut ‘to make a name for Kingsburg’

FRESNO, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – A 20-year-old MMA fighter from Kingsburg is missing something that almost every other competitor will have: an eye. But Alex Hernandez says he’s ready to show everyone what a one-eyed can really accomplish.

“I want to show people what I’m capable of with just one eye,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez says he lost his eye in an accident in high school while he and his friend were just hanging out.

“We were just goofing around, messing around,” Hernandez said. “[I] had an incident to where I fell and I lost my eye, fractured my whole cheekbone, punctured my eye, completely flat.”

Hernandez was a freshman at the time. He says he was transported to Valley Children’s Hospital and doctors initially said they were able to save his eye.

“I got out of the hospital like a week later. I tried going back to school, had this really sharp pain in the back of my head and I was like, I can’t do this.”

Hernandez says he and his family went back to Valley Children’s Hospital where doctors discovered internal bleeding in the back of Hernandez’s head.

“I remember we went up there and the doctor came back and he was like, Hey, Alex, we’re just gonna have to remove your eye. Like, it’s done.”

Hernandez says what affected him most was his family’s reaction to the news.

“What really impacted me more was watching my mom and my older sister,” Hernandez said. “My mom was a single parent. My dad passed away in 2015. I’m like the only boy in the family.”

Hernandez says he never lost his sense of humor or fun-loving nature, but his experience made him realize he needed to find an outlet to move forward.

“I did football, did pretty good,” Hernandez said. “Then wrestling is when it really got more challenging.”

With a blind spot on his left side, Hernandez said he was initially overwhelmed by the challenge, but also welcomed it. With the support of his hometown community in Kingsburg, he was ready to pursue wrestling wholeheartedly.

“I want to be able to make a name for Kingsburg,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez would go on to not only represent Kingsburg in the cage – but also as a wrestler at Fresno City College. He says he will finish out his college wrestling career this August.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.