Alex Hernandez is very confident heading into his second Octagon appearance as he prepares to face Olivier Aubin-Mercier at UFC on FOX 30.

He may have only logged 42-seconds of Octagon time in his UFC career thus far, but Alex Hernandez is ready to make a statement on a big stage in July.

“The Great”, who is riding an impressive seven-fight winning streak, will take on the fellow surging Olivier Aubin-Mercier at UFC on FOX 30. The event will take place July 28 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Hernandez immediately jumped into the lightweight division’s top-15 with a quick stoppage of Baneil Dariush in March at UFC 222.

Aubin-Mercier is currently on a four-fight winning streak, including a 53-second finish of Evan Dunham at UFC 223. Recently, Aubin-Mercier has shown a new persona, especially on social media, of the “Canadian Gangster.” While OAM has been gaining new fans with his sense of humor, Hernandez isn’t one of them heading into their lightweight divisional showdown in Calgary.

“That’s the biggest oxymoron of all f****ng time; Canadian Gangster,” Hernandez told FanSided MMA. “That’s like a jumbo shrimp. I definitely am not going to follow my opponents on Twitter or Instagram. Truthfully, I study what I need to study and that’s it. A lot of people dwell and just inhabit themselves in their opponents and their lives. They pay too much attention to their opponents’ habits and how to counter them. I’m just worried how I can just perfect my style, which seems to always do the job for me. I’m just worried on how to stay ahead. OAM, or anybody else, will not be prepared for that cadence and how to keep up with me.”

Hernandez picked up victories in RFA and LFA before getting the call to step in as a short notice replacement against Dariush in Las Vegas. Aubin-Mercier’s streak includes a split-decision win over Tony Martin, along with submission victories over Drew Dober and Thibault Gouti. Hernandez is happy everything lined up well for him but he feels that Aubin-Mercier’s streak isn’t as eye-opening as others believe.

“No, I haven’t been impressed,” Hernandez said. “I’m sure he’s a fine guy, seems like a pretty benign, fun dude. He may have a decent sense of humor. But even trying being humble, I don’t know if he can bring anything to the table that is threatening to me. I think he’s doing great in his career, he’s on a good streak, but I’m not impressed by it. I haven’t been impressed with his game at all. I’m happy he pulled out the win (in his last fight) in the way that he did so now I can put to a screeching halt to this run he’s been on.”

“That’s the biggest oxymoron of all f****ng time; Canadian Gangster. That’s like a jumbo shrimp. I definitely am not going to follow my opponents on Twitter or Instagram.”

The 25-year-old from San Antonio believes he has advantages across the board in this upcoming bout in his opponent’s home country of Canada. One big advantage he feels strongly about is the lack of footage that can be seen in past fights. While there may be a few bouts on YouTube and other libraries, “The Great” can watch footage of Aubin-Mercier’s last 10 fights with the push of a button. Is there a lot of mystery to the young Texan in store for July 28?

“F**k yeah there is,” Hernandez explained. “I do have a huge advantage because all of my opponents — as tricky as I can say I’m gonna be to figure out and as much as I’m gonna evolve from fight to fight — there’s not a lot of footage out there to base me on, other than coming out and being explosive. Every single fight I impress myself because I do something completely different than my previous fights. There’s always something new in my artillery that I can bring out. I think I switch stances better than anybody else in the game, making that a fluid and seamless transition.

“Frankly, I didn’t know I could knock somebody out with my left like I could my right. S**t, now that I know that, oh my god! I may just be able to open that door. We didn’t get to see much of my kicks, any of my ground game. I do everything and I do everything to be the absolute best. So I think there’s plenty more to find, plenty more to see.”

Alex Hernandez has his sights set on the top of the division. He doesn’t take a lot of time off from the gym. In fact, according to Hernandez, fight camp to him is “just an extra sparring session a week” to maintain he is ready to go at any time. To get to those upper echelon contenders in one of the deepest divisions in the UFC, Hernandez needs to get a victory over a game Olivier Aubin-Mercier.

The fight may be a month away, but Hernandez already has a vision of how it will all go down during the main card of UFC on FOX 30.

“I already know exactly how it’s going to play out,” Hernandez said. “He will overextend with that left hand and I will slip and counter him with a right hand. If I don’t knock him unconscious with that right hand, and I onset, instead, with a flurry, I’ll break him with that. I’m sure hell desperately dive for a shot, I’ll stuff it and will proceed to gorilla f**k him on the ground. Worst case scenario, that’s how it will play out. But I’m calling for the right.”