Strickland, ranked No. 3, suffered his first loss in the UFC in more than five years to Hernandez.
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Published February 22, 2026
In the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in Houston, Texas, former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Sean Strickland delivered a knee to the body and then a flurry of punches to defeat Anthony Hernandez by technical knockout (TKO) at 2:23 of the third round.
The U.S. match started at a slow pace, but Strickland picked up the pace when Hernandez fell back at the midway point of the match.
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It was Strickland (30-7 MMA, 17-7 UFC)’s first win since June 2024, while Hernandez (15-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) suffered his first loss since May 2020 as his eight-fight win streak came to an end. It was Strickland’s first knockout victory in more than two years.
After some harsh words were exchanged before the game, Strickland handed props to Hernandez, nicknamed “Fluffy,” after the game.
“I can’t thank Fluffy enough,” said Strickland, 34. “He’s the definition of a man. Honestly, Fluffy is the man I want to be. He’s married, a father, a hard worker, and a better man than I ever expected.”
Hernandez, 32, had a simple answer.
“I thought it was 1-1 (going to the third round),” Hernandez said. “Time to get back to work.”
Meanwhile, Serbian welterweight Uros Medic finished off Jeff Neal with an opening round TKO with a left hook in just 79 seconds.
Medic (13-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) has won three straight, while Neal (16-8 MMA, 8-6 UFC) has lost back-to-back fights.
Brazilian featherweight Melquizael Costa scored the sixth spinning back kick TKO (head) in UFC history, defeating Dan Ige at 4:56 of the opening round. Costa’s six-fight win streak (26-7 MMA, 7-2 UFC) was also the first knockout loss of Ige’s career (19-11 MMA, 11-10 UFC).
Moldovan heavyweight Sergei Spivac ended a two-fight losing streak by defeating Croatia’s Ante Derija by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28). It was Spivach (18-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC)’s first win since August 2024, while Derija (26-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has lost back-to-back fights since winning his UFC debut last September.
In an undefeated welterweight bout, Jacob Smith (12-0 MMA) made quick work of UFC debutant Josiah Harrell (11-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), securing a first-round TKO stoppage in just 3:01. Smith has completed 10 of his 12 MMA fights and improved his UFC record to 3-0 with the ninth KO/TKO win of his career.
UFC Houston’s main card opened with an action-packed middleweight bout between Brazil’s Michel Pereira and Zachary Reese. Pereira (32-14 MMA, 10-5 UFC) ended a three-fight losing streak with a split decision win (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). Reese (10-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) had won two of his last three bouts before Saturday night.
