Former middleweight champion Sean Strickland returned to action at UFC Houston on Saturday, anchoring the Fight Night card’s main event against Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez.
Strickland entered the Toyota Center ready to fight for the first time in about a year, when he lost a rematch with Dricus Du Plessis, who had dethroned him for the UFC middleweight championship at UFC 297 in Toronto.
As for Hernandez, and eight-fight win streak had set him up as a legitimate title contender; a win over Strickland might just punch his ticket.
In traditional Strickland fashion, he worked his jab and teep kicks to start the UFC Houston main event, with Hernandez walking him down while the crowd got a “Fluffy” chant going. Strickland, to his credit, was more than a two-trick pony, and found a home for a short uppercut as Hernandez closed the distance. Moments later Strickland connected again, and Hernandez smiled, a sign that he was more hurt than he let on. Strickland went on the attack, and “Fluffy” covered up, surviving a brief onslaught.
Moments later it was Hernandez backing Strickland up, swinging and briefly trapping him against the cage. Strickland would extricate himself from that spot, regroup, and go back to working his jab and fighting, rather well, off his back foot.
Round two saw Strickland fire a front kick early, while Hernandez continued to look for a way in. Strickland evaded one attack, and countered with a right. Hernandez found more success on his next offensive, forcing Strickland to cover and escape. The jab continued to serve Strickland well, and his movement kept him just out of range of Hernandez’s strikes. Hernandez did tag the body; they’d clinch at center briefly, but through a round and a half, it was very much a Sean Strickland-style fight.
The back half of the round didn’t do much to change that impression. Strickland doubled up on his jab to start round three after that, which Hernandez did just barely manage to clip the ex-champ with a punch of his own. Strickland remained difficult to hit for “Fluffy,” who through two and half rounds, half of the scheduled main event, had not even come close to a takedown.
Strickland, meanwhile, would nail Hernandez with a knee, and swing wild with a follow-up, missing. A deluge of punches that followed did not piss, however, as Strickland unleashed on an injured “Fluffy.” A lot of those punches were landing, looping lefts and rights, and Hernandez initially fired back then went down. Strickland added on a few more, and the ref made the call! A TKO finish for the ex-champ, in his best performance since winning the title against Israel Adesanya in 2023.
Strickland was complimentary of Hernandez following the fight. “This man is the definition of a f*cking savage.” He also admitted he was open to a fight with Khamzat Chimaev, should the champ not move up to 205lbs at least.
Official Result: Sean Strickland def. Anthony Hernandez by TKO (punches), Round 3, 2:33
