Nohelin Hernandez not sweating short-notice call: ‘I’ve been UFC ready’

Esther Lin, MMA Fighting Nohelin Hernandez (pictured) fights Marlon Vera in a bantamweight bout at UFC 239 in Las Vegas on SaturdayLast week, the 25-year-old bantamweight was preparing to headline a Legacy Fighting Alliance show at the end of the month against Anthony Birchak, a veteran of four UFC fights. A win there would likely have propelled Hernandez to a spot in the Octagon.

Instead, he got a call last Saturday telling him that he’d be needed to fill in for Sean O’Malley against Marlon Vera in Las Vegas at UFC 239, one of the biggest MMA cards of the year. Hernandez was solely focused on Birchak and wasn’t even aware that the O’Malley and Vera were booked to fight or that Vera was…