Sean Strickland is hanging around the middleweight title picture and could fight for it again with a big win Saturday.
Three of Strickland’s past four fights have had gold on the line, so you can be sure he’s eyeing champion Khamzat Chimaev even as he prepares to battle Anthony Hernandez in the main event of UFC Houston. Hernandez is on a stunning run of form, having won eight straight to put together the longest streak in the division. He’ll have an even stronger contender case than Strickland if he knocks off the former titleholder.
Despite—or perhaps because of—Strickland’s pervasively disgusting, ignorant, and frankly, dull public comments, he remains a favorite of the UFC matchmakers and unquestionably has a following that are eager to see him fight Chimaev. He fell to twice to Dricus du Plessis, but made easy work of Paulo Costa and his shocking upset of Israel Adesanya remains fresh in the minds of many.
If it’s Hernandez that impresses Saturday, he has a clear path to Chimaev based off of both merit and stylistic challenge. Who wouldn’t want to see Hernandez put his non-stop pressure offense up against Chimaev’s vaunted wrestling?
So with apologies to Nassourdine Imavov, we will likely have a new No. 1 contender at 185 pounds by week’s end.
Where: Toyota Center in Houston
When: Saturday, Feb. 21. The eight-fight early preliminary card begins at 5 p.m. ET, followed by a six-fight main card at 8 p.m. ET. The entire event streams live on Paramount+.
(Numbers in parentheses indicate standing in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings)
Sean Strickland (4) vs. Anthony Hernandez (6)
Count out Sean Strickland at your own peril.
True, Anthony Hernandez is well-equipped to deal with Strickland, especially in a five-round fight. He’s a strong grappler, attacks with volume, and his cardio is second-to-none. With 25 minutes to work with, it feels like it’s only a matter of time until Hernandez starts to consistently string together offense and wear Strickland down.
However, even in his losses, Strickland doesn’t go away easy. His effort in the second Dricus du Plessis fight was poor and he was straight-up smoked by Alex Pereira, but outside of those losses you don’t see Strickland get stuck on the back foot for long. And he’s always had good enough takedown defense to keep the fight on the feet. If Hernandez’s plan is to bum rush Strickland and suffocate him for five rounds, there’s no real blueprint for him to follow.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if “Fluffy” runs through Strickland, but we’ve seen several high-level fighters struggle to figure out Strickland’s wonky style, which emphasizes defense and mucking up his opponent’s rhythm. If Hernandez starts off slow as he has a tendency to do, there’s no guarantee he can get those rounds back later. There’s also a part of me that’s concerned about how Hernandez bounces back from his recent injury.
Geoff Neal (14) vs. Uros Medic
Superb co-main event booking here as we have the always-entertaining-but-not-quite-elite Geoff Neal paired up with a man who refuses to see the scorecards, Uros Medic. Heck, Medic has only fought past the second round once. This is gonna be good.
Medic is the sexy pick, especially with Neal coming off of a potentially career-changing knockout loss to Carlos Prates. I’m skeptical. There’s such a significant gap in their quality of competition—always an important factor for me when making picks—that I can’t see Medic blitzing Neal as he has so many past opponents. Neal typically does well against aggressive strategies, like when he gave Shavkat Rakhmonov problems before eventually succumbing to a late finish. Plus he has plenty of punching power of his own, with five knockouts in his 13 UFC fights.
Give me the more battle-tested Neal coming out on top via KO/TKO in the second round.
Dan Ige vs. Melquizael Costa
Speaking of great matchmaking, Dan Ige is exactly the quality of opponent Melquizael Costa should be facing.
One of the breakout fighters of 2025, Costa looks all the world like a featherweight that deserves to have a number next to his name. Now he gets the chance to make it official. Ige is the preeminent gatekeeper at 145 pounds and a lot of fighters looking to make a name off of him have gone home disappointed.
Unlike Neal-Medic matchup, I’m picking the up-and-comer to emerge victorious and claim a top 15 spot. Costa mixes the martial arts with great technical skill, something Ige has struggled against in the past. I’m not putting Costa on the level of Patricio Pitbull or Lerone Murphy (yet), but he has plenty of tools with which to frustrate Ige for three rounds.
I have Costa winning a decision, possibly in a Fight of the Night that earns a bonus for “One Hundred Grand Dan” as well.
Serghei Spivac (11) vs. Ante Delija (12)
I’ve already stated my optimism regarding the future UFC heavyweight division, so allow me to elaborate, using these fine gentlemen as an example.
We can all agree there’s a distinct tier of top heavyweights that includes Tom Aspinall, Francis Ngannou, Jon Jones, and sure, Ciryl Gane, in some order. We can also agree the lower third of the division is absolutely dire outside of a few up-and-coming names, who are really just notable for being a notch above awful skill-wise. Then there’s the squishy middle and that’s where we find names like Serghei Spivac and Ante Delija (as well as others like Waldo Cortes-Acosta, Tallison Teixeira, Derrick Lewis, and Valter Walker).
It’s in this tier that we find the right mix of potent offense and questionable defense, which should deliver the big boy finishes we are often promised. There are exceptions (Teixeira vs. Tai Tuivasa was rough!), but otherwise I’m confident guys like Spivac and Delija can steer clear of the scorecards. Forget what this means for the rankings, just trick me into believing there are better days ahead, guys.
Delija has looked pretty good in his two UFC fights so far, with that loss to Cortes-Acosta being kind of wacky. I have him methodically walking Spivac down before putting him away with strikes near the end of Round 1.
Jacobe Smith vs. Josiah Harrell
Jacobe Smith and Josiah Harrell are both 11-0, but that’s where their similarities end as far as how they got to this moment.
For Smith, it’s been a gradual climb from regional prospect to Contender Series contract winner to UFC prospect; Harrell was on the fast track to the UFC back in 2023, only to see his journey halted in frightening fashion when a pre-fight medical revealed a rare brain disease, forcing him out of a matchup with future welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena. Now, Harrell is making up for lost time by stepping in on less than a week’s notice for an injured Seokhyeon Ko.
You know what? We’re going with vibes here. Harrell obviously knows what it means to battle back from adversity, something he did in his most recent win over Bekmyrza Dosmatov, and he’ll have to show that same heart against Smith. Because Smith is not going to make this easy. “Cobe” combines slick hand speed with an aggressive wrestling attack to overwhelm his opponents and he’ll look to take advantage of Harrell’s short preparation time.
But if Harrell can weather a storm (or two… or three…) there will be openings to return fire. At this stage of their careers, neither fighter is known for their defensive acumen, so if it breaks down into a scrap, Harrell has a shot. I see him scoring an emotional win, while Smith takes a first loss that will only make him better as a fighter.
Zachary Reese vs. Michel Pereira
Nope, I’m not giving up on Michel Pereira yet.
I still believe the dynamite version of “Demolidor” is in there somewhere, even though it’s possible that fighting 47 times by the age of 32 may have simply worn Pereira out. If that’s the case, Zachary Reese could be the one to put that theory to the test and send Pereira off for good.
Reese isn’t afraid to trade hands with Pereira, and he won’t shy away from digging in and making a fight grimy either. One aspect of game that is concerning is his poor striking defense. Reese can get hit and Pereira’s athleticism is going to give him problems early. At his best, Pereira can look like a wizard in there and if he can focus and not allow Reese to dictate the action, we may see a vintage performance from the eclectic Brazilian.
Call me a fool, but I think Pereira has one more run of exciting fights in him.
Chidi Njokuani def. Carlos Leal
Alibi Idiris def. Ode Osbourne vs.
Alden Coria def. Luis Gurule
Joselyne Edwards def. Nora Cornolle
Punahele Soriano def. Ramiz Brahimaj
Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani def. Phil Rowe
Jordan Leavitt def. Yadier del Valle
Carli Judice def. Juliana Miller