How to Watch UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Hernandez Live Stream
18 Feb 2026Read More
Sean Strickland vs Anthony Hernandez Preview & Picks – Back Hernandez For Points Win At UFC Houston
- Sean Strickland vs Anthony Hernandez picks for Saturday, February 21
- UFC Fight Night is taking place at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas
- Preview, predictions, stats & form
Anthony Hernandez punches Josh Fremd (Getty Images)
- Sean Strickland vs Anthony Hernandez Preview & Picks
- Sean Strickland Form
- Anthony Hernandez Form
- Strickland vs Hernandez - What They Said
Sean Strickland vs Anthony Hernandez Preview & Picks
Sean Strickland vs Anthony Hernandez Preview & Picks
Anthony Hernandez is tipped to win this main event fight via decision.
Hernandez is one of the very best wrestlers in the division and boasts tremendous cardio.
He can take Sean Strickland to the mat, nullify his striking and grind out the decision victory.
- Anthony Hernandez is on an 8-fight win streak
- Sean Strickland’s last 3 defeats have all come via decision
- Sean Strickland has gone the distance in 9 of his last 11 fights
Sean Strickland Form
Sean Strickland is a former UFC middleweight champion and the current number three ranked contender with a career record of 29-7 (11 KOs, 4 Subs).
Strickland debuted in the UFC back in March 2014, and won six of his first nine fights before embarking on the best win streak of his career in the promotion between 2018 and 2022.
That run was ended in July 2022 when he was knocked out in the first round by Alex Pereira, and in December of that year he suffered a split decision defeat at the hands of Jared Cannonier.
‘Tarzan’ rebounded in 2023 as he beat Nassourdine Imavov on points and Abusupiyan Magomedov by second-round TKO, and those victories earned him a shot at the middleweight title in September 2023.
Strickland went into the fight with Israel Adesanya as a massive underdog, but he shocked the world when he out-pointed ‘The Last Stylebender’ over five rounds to become the new champion.
The 34-year-old American was ‘one and done’ as a champion though, as he dropped a split decision to Dricus du Plessis in his first defence of the championship in January 2024.
He rebounded in June with a split decision victory over Paulo Costa, setting up a rematch with ‘DDP’ for the title in early 2025, but Strickland was unable to reclaim the gold as he lost that bout by unanimous decision.
Anthony Hernandez Form
Anthony Hernandez is the number four ranked middleweight contender with a professional record of 15-2 (3 KOs, 9 Subs) with 1 No Contest.
Hernandez debuted in the UFC in early 2019, following an appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series, and he got off to a rough start as he lost two of his first three fights.
He was submitted by Markus Perez in his debut, and then failed to follow up a second-round submission of Park Jun-Yong as he was knocked out by Kevin Holland in just 39 seconds.
‘Fluffy’ has not lost since though, embarking on an eight-fight win streak that has propelled him into the top five in the middleweight division.
Hernandez began the run by submitting Rodolfo Vieira in the second round, and then backed up a points success against Josh Fremd with a third-round submission victory over Marc-Andre Barriault.
The 32-year-old American then knocked out Edmen Shahbazyan in the third and tapped out Roman Kopylov in the second, before making it four straight stoppage successes as he knocked out Michel Pereira in the fifth.
Hernandez’s run of stoppage victories ended in 2025, but he was able to out-point Brendan Allen over three rounds to keep his win streak going, and he made it eight wins in a row last August as he submitted Roman Dolidze in the fourth round.
Strickland vs Hernandez - What They Said
Sean Strickland told ESPN MMA: "It’s going to be a great fight. I can’t wait. It’s going to be a miserable fight. There’s going to be a level of misery there that’s hard to train for. It’s hard to train for that kind of misery. You know it’s going to be fourth round, fifth round. Like... 'five more minutes of this parasite'. That’s how he’s made his career, lying on guys, but it’s hard."
Verdict
Anthony Hernandez stumbled early in his career, but he has been on a tear since then.
Sean Strickland is his biggest test to date, but Hernandez has the grappling skills to take away ‘Tarzan’s striking advantage and grind out the victory.
Sean Strickland is his biggest test to date, but Hernandez has the grappling skills to take away ‘Tarzan’s striking advantage and grind out the victory.
Hernandez by decision
Method Of Victory
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