The spotlight of tonight’s UFC Houston occasion was a key middleweight bout between Sean Strickland and Anthony Hernandez.
Strickland (30-7 combined martial arts) is making his first return to motion since shedding a unanimous determination to Drikas du Plessis for the promotion’s middleweight title at UFC 312 in Sydney, Australia, 12 months in the past. Earlier than that setback, the previous middleweight titleholder defeated Paulo Costa by cut up determination at UFC 302.
In the meantime, Anthony Hernandez (15-3 MMA) enters tonight’s headliner on an eight-fight profitable streak, his most up-to-date being a submission win over Roman Dolisez in August of this yr. ‘Fluffy’ has completed 4 of his final 5 fights, together with his solely determination victory coming towards Brendan Allen.
Tonight’s principal occasion at UFC Houston was a return to glory for the promotion’s former middleweight champion, Sean Strickland. The 34-year-old was capable of overwhelm and frustrate Hernandez together with his sharp left jab all through the primary two rounds. And within the third spherical, Strickland smashed a knee to the physique, clearly hurting “Fluffy”. Smelling blood, Shawn charged ahead with a flurry of punches, knocking Anthony down and in the end leading to a referee stoppage. It was an ideal present, and after the win, Stickland referred to as out present 185-pound titleholder Khamzat Chimaev.
UFC Houston official outcomes: Sean Strickland def. Anthony Hernandez, TKO victory at 2:33 of spherical 3
Try the professionals’ reactions to “Strickland vs. Hernandez” under.
Spherical 24 of the UFC. ninth principal occasion. Former world champion. Present quantity 3. statistics! Who has the statistics? pic.twitter.com/LKVfLNwQ9s
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) February 22, 2026
10-9 Strickland in a really aggressive spherical
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) February 22, 2026
Shawn actually established his jab within the first spherical and caught him with an overhand. Sport 1 Strickland. #UFCHouston
—Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) February 22, 2026
Fluffy wants to chop him off with a excessive kick or physique kick.
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) February 22, 2026
Sean is in nice form in spherical two. #UFCHouston
— Alan Jouban (@AlanJouban) February 22, 2026
Fluffy might want to take extra possibilities off the faux and try a takedown. 2-0 Decean #UFCHouston
—Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) February 22, 2026
Submit-fight response to Sean Strickland defeating Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston:
The principle physique is fluffy kurptonite.
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) February 22, 2026
congratulations @SStricklandMMA the speech after the sport will begin…
— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) February 22, 2026
Sean appeared preoccupied with the menial process, however stayed one step forward all night time.
— Terrence McKinney (@twrecks155) February 22, 2026
The one solution to get it’s via hours of sparring. Simply present up, spar every single day and voila! Do not overthink something. Who offers a fuck! Ahaha! Sean is superb!
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) February 22, 2026
Holy fuck. #ufcparamount
— Max Crosby (@CrosbyMaxx) February 22, 2026
Who wish to see Strickland’s subsequent struggle following his TKO win over Hernandez in Texas tonight? Share your ideas within the feedback part on Penn Nation!
