Sean Strickland ends Anthony Hernandez’s win streak with TKO victory

Sean Strickland ends Anthony Hernandez’s win streak with TKO victoryThe third-ranked Strickland hands Hernandez his first UFC defeat in more than five years.Published On 22 Feb 2026Former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Sean Strickland delivered ‌a knee to the body, followed by punches, to finish Anthony Hernandez with a ⁠technical knockout (TKO) victory at ⁠2:23 of the third round in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event in Houston, Texas.After a slow-paced start to the all-American bout, Strickland picked up the pace at the ⁠halfway point of the fight as Hernandez retreated.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Ryan Garcia defeats Mario Barrios to win WBC welterweight titlelist 2 of 4NFL: Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Rondale Moore dies aged 25list 3 of 4LAFC shut out Messi, Inter Miami in MLS season openerlist 4 of 4Nico O’Reilly double seals key 2-1 win for Man City over Newcastle Unitedend of listThe win was the first for Strickland (30-7 Mixed Martial Arts, 17-7 UFC) since June 2024, while Hernandez (15-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) had his eight-fight win streak ⁠snapped, taking his first defeat since May 2020. The victory was Strickland’s first by knockout in more than two years.Strickland gave props to Hernandez, nicknamed “Fluffy”, following the fight after some harsh words were exchanged leading up to it.“I cannot thank Fluffy enough,” said Strickland, 34. “He is the definition of a man. To be honest, Fluffy’s the man I want to be. ‌He’s married, a father, a hard worker – he’s a better man than I could hope to be.”Hernandez, 32, kept it simple.“I thought it was 1-1 [going into Round 3],” Hernandez said. “Time to get back to work.”Strickland, left, knocked out Hernandez in the third round [Jack Gorman/Getty Images]Meanwhile, Serbian welterweight Uros Medic needed just 79 seconds to deliver a left hook which finished Geoff Neal for an opening-round TKO.Medic (13-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) has won three in a row, while Neal (16-8 MMA, 8-6 UFC) has lost back-to-back ⁠fights.