Strickland (30-7 MMA) returned to action for the first time since losing a unanimous decision to Dricus Du Plessis in a fight for the promotion’s middleweight title 12 months ago at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia. Prior to that setback, the former middleweight titleholder had defeated Paulo Costa via split decision at UFC 302.
Meanwhile, Anthony Hernandez (15-3 MMA) entered tonight’s headliner on an eight-fight winning streak, with his most recent win over Roman Dolidze last August coming via submission. ‘Fluffy’ had finished four of his previous five fights, with his only decision win in that stretch coming against Brendan Allen.
Tonight’s UFC Houston main event proved to be a return to glory for the promotion’s former middleweight champion, Sean Strickland. The 34-year-old was able to use his snapping left jab to overwhelm and frustrate Hernandez through the first two rounds. Then in round three, Strickland landed a crushing knee to the body that clearly hurt ‘Fluffy’. Sean smelled blood and charged in with a flurry of punches, sending Anthony down and eventually causing the referee to stop. It was a great performance and after the win, Stickland went on to shout out current 185-pound titleholder Khamzat Chimaev.
Official UFC Houston Results: Sean Strickland def. Anthony Hernandez via TKO at 2:33 of round 3
Watch below to see how the pros reacted to ‘Strickland vs. Hernandez’:
24th ufc fight. 9th main event. Former world champion. Current number 3. Statistics! Who has statistics? pic.twitter.com/LKVfLNwQ9s
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) February 22, 2026
10-9 Strickland in a very competitive round
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) February 22, 2026
Sean really landed the jab in the first round and caught it with an overhand. Round 1 Strickland. #UFCHouston
—Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) February 22, 2026
Fluffy has to cut him off with high kicks or body kicks
— Belal Mohammed (@bullyb170) February 22, 2026
Sean looks great in round 2. #UFCHouston
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) February 22, 2026
Fluffy will have to take more risks with his forgeries and more takedown attempts. 2-0 Desean #UFCHouston
—Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) February 22, 2026
Post-fight reactions to Sean Strickland’s win over Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston:
Fluffy krptonite is the body
— Belal Mohammed (@bullyb170) February 22, 2026
Congratulations @SStricklandMMA post-fight speech that will happen soon…
— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) February 22, 2026
Sean seemed locked into dirty work all night, but was one step ahead all night
— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) February 22, 2026
That’s what you only get from hours and hours of sparring. Just show up and spar every day and voila! Don’t overthink anything. Who gives a fuck! Haha! Sean is great!
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) February 22, 2026
HOLY F*CK. #ufcparamount
— Maxx Crosby (@CrosbyMaxx) February 22, 2026
Who would you like to see Strickland fight after his TKO win over Hernandez tonight in Texas? Share your thoughts in the comments section Penn Nation!
#Pros #React #Sean #Strickland #TKOs #Anthony #Hernandez #UFC #Houston