Sean Strickland is hanging around the middleweight title picture and could fight for it again with a big win Saturday.<\/p>\n
Three of Strickland\u2019s past four fights have had gold on the line, so you can be sure he\u2019s 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\u2019ll have an even stronger contender case than Strickland if he knocks off the former titleholder.<\/p>\n
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Despite\u2014or perhaps because of\u2014Strickland\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s Hernandez that impresses Saturday, he has a clear path to Chimaev based off of both merit and stylistic challenge. Who wouldn\u2019t want to see Hernandez put his non-stop pressure offense up against Chimaev\u2019s vaunted wrestling?<\/p>\n
So with apologies to Nassourdine Imavov, we will likely have a new No. 1 contender at 185 pounds by week\u2019s end.<\/p>\n
What:\u00a0UFC Houston<\/p>\n
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Where:\u00a0Toyota Center in Houston<\/p>\n
When:\u00a0Saturday, 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+.<\/p>\n
(Numbers in parentheses indicate standing in the\u00a0MMA Fighting Global Rankings<\/a>)<\/p>\n Sean Strickland (4) vs. Anthony Hernandez (6)<\/p>\n Count out Sean Strickland at your own peril.<\/p>\n True, Anthony Hernandez is well-equipped to deal with Strickland, especially in a five-round fight. He\u2019s a strong grappler, attacks with volume, and his cardio is second-to-none. With 25 minutes to work with, it feels like it\u2019s only a matter of time until Hernandez starts to consistently string together offense and wear Strickland down.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n However, even in his losses, Strickland doesn\u2019t 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\u2019t see Strickland get stuck on the back foot for long. And he\u2019s always had good enough takedown defense to keep the fight on the feet. If Hernandez\u2019s plan is to bum rush Strickland and suffocate him for five rounds, there\u2019s no real blueprint for him to follow.<\/p>\n I wouldn\u2019t be surprised at all if \u201cFluffy\u201d runs through Strickland, but we\u2019ve seen several high-level fighters struggle to figure out Strickland\u2019s wonky style, which emphasizes defense and mucking up his opponent\u2019s rhythm. If Hernandez starts off slow as he has a tendency to do, there\u2019s no guarantee he can get those rounds back later. There\u2019s also a part of me that\u2019s concerned about how Hernandez bounces back from his recent injury.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sensing an upset.<\/p>\n Pick: Strickland<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Geoff Neal (14) vs. Uros Medic<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Medic is the sexy pick, especially with Neal coming off of a potentially career-changing knockout loss to Carlos Prates. I\u2019m skeptical. There\u2019s such a significant gap in their quality of competition\u2014always an important factor for me when making picks\u2014that I can\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n Give me the more battle-tested Neal coming out on top via KO\/TKO in the second round.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Pick: Neal<\/p>\n Dan Ige vs. Melquizael Costa<\/p>\n Speaking of great matchmaking, Dan Ige is exactly the quality of opponent Melquizael Costa should be facing.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Unlike Neal-Medic matchup, I\u2019m 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\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n I have Costa winning a decision, possibly in a Fight of the Night that earns a bonus for \u201cOne Hundred Grand Dan\u201d as well.<\/p>\n Pick: Costa<\/p>\n Serghei Spivac (11) vs. Ante Delija (12)<\/p>\n