The UFC resumes its schedule from Houston, Texas, headlined by a middleweight main event between No. 3-ranked former UFC Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland and No. 4-ranked Anthony Hernandez to top a 14-fight UFC Fight Night card Saturday night from Toyota Center.
Strickland (29-7, 16-7 UFC) makes his return to the Octagon for the first time since last February, losing a unanimous decision to then-champion Dricus du Plessis (23-3, 9-1 UFC) at UFC 312 in a rematch between the pair.
Minus Strickland’s highly-controversial comments at media day Wednesday, Strickland said he sees himself beating Hernandez (15-2, 9-2, 1 NC UFC) come fight night. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a finish or a decision, as long as Strickland is victorious.
Sean Strickland Breaks Down UFC Houston Main Event
(Jasmin Frank/Imagn Images)
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“I don’t know anything else than five rounds,” Strickland told ESPN MMA. “You just train for that. ‘Fluffy’ is a hard guy to train for because there’s nobody who really fights like him, that has that pace. So a lot of my training, my wrestling rounds are outside of sparring. Just go with a guy until he becomes a dead body, then go with another guy.”
Contrary to Strickland, Hernandez admitted that the only way he sees himself winning is by dominating him and leaving no doubt after the fight that it was not competitive.
Anthony Hernandez Lays Out Ideal Sean Strickland Performance
(Zuffa LLC)
“For sure, I’ve been getting a lot of messages like, ‘F*** him up, do this,’ but at the end of the day I’ve got a lot of people behind me, which is a f****** beautiful blessing and I love that,” Hernandez told New York Post Sports. “But I’m going to just go out there and do what I do best. I’m not focused on trying to take him out of there fast in the first round.”
A smart, calculated fight, may just be the smarter approach for Hernandez, as Strickland nearly does the identical thing every fight by coming forward and trying to make it ugly.
Check out the Friday evening betting odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook, alongside the start time for the event and the current bout order.
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Main card (Start time 8 p.m. ET/ 5 p.m. PT, P+)Main Event: Sean Strickland (+235) vs. Anthony Hernandez (-290), middleweight (five rounds, non-title)Co-Main Event: Geoff Neal (-205) vs. Uros Medic (+170), welterweightDan Ige (+190) vs. Melquizael Costa (-230), featherweightSerghei Spivac (+114) vs. Ante Delija (-135), heavyweightJacobe Smith (-325) vs. Josiah Harrell (+260), welterweightZachary Reese (+140) vs. Michel Pereira (-166), middleweight Preliminary card (Start time 5 p.m. ET/ 2 p.m. PT, P+)Featured Prelim: Chidi Njokuani (+120) vs. Carlos Leal (-142), welterweightOde Osbourne (+110) vs. Alibi Idiris (-130), flyweightAlden Coria (-380) vs. Luis Gurule (+300), flyweightNora Cornolle (+270) vs. Joselyne Edwards (-340), bantamweightRamiz Brahimaj (-110, even) vs. Punahele Soriano (-110, even), welterweightPhil Rowe (+180) vs. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani (-218), welterweightJordan Leavitt (+320) vs. Yadier del Valle (-410), featherweightJuliana Miller (+575) vs. Carli Judice (-850), flyweight
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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