Brett OkamotoFeb 21, 2026, 11:39 PM ET
- Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
Sean Strickland said he was expecting a "miserable" fight with Anthony "Fluffy" Hernandez on Saturday in Houston, but it turned out to be miserable for his opponent.
Strickland (30-7) recorded his first knockout in more than two years, as he stopped Hernandez (15-3) with strikes at 2:33 of the third round. It was Strickland's first appearance since he came up short in a middleweight title fight against Dricus Du Plessis in February 2025. That loss was widely regarded as one of the worst performances of Strickland's career, but he more than made up for it Saturday.
"I know at the weigh-in, we had some words," said Strickland, referring to some heated exchanges with Hernandez earlier in the week. "But after that fight, I feel I'm part Mexican. That was a f---ing war, and I cannot thank Fluffy enough. He is the definition of a man. To be honest, Fluffy is 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."
Strickland, 34, was ranked No. 3 in the UFC's middleweight division going into the bout but was a significant betting underdog to snap Hernandez's streak of eight consecutive wins. He flipped that script from the opening round, however, as he worked on Hernandez with his notorious jab and footwork.
The 17-year veteran predicted he would probably have to take Hernandez into the fourth and fifth rounds of a back-and-forth fight to break him, but instead Strickland hurt him with a knee to the body in the third. He finished the bout with body punches and a combination of uppercuts.
Although Strickland has said in recent interviews he doesn't expect to fight for the title anytime soon, given current champion Khamzat Chimaev's history of inactivity, he called for the opportunity anyway after Saturday's victory.
"If Chimaev gets off the bench, I'd like a piece," Strickland said. "You never know with that guy, but that's what I want."
According to UFC Stats, Strickland outlanded Hernandez 92-62 in total strikes and defended Hernandez's only attempt at a takedown. Fighting out of Las Vegas, Strickland admitted he fought Du Plessis last year with an injured shoulder and then missed time in the second half of 2025 due to a suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his role in a postfight altercation at a local event in June.
The time off might have done him well. His last finish before Saturday was a second-round knockout of Abus Magomedov in July 2023. For Hernandez, 32, it snapped a win streak that dated to February 2021. Hernandez lost to Kevin Holland in May 2020, before rattling off eight consecutive wins with six finishes.
"I thought it was going good, thought it was [one round each], but maybe I got sloppy and got caught with the knee up the center," Hernandez said. "It's OK. I'm going back to the drawing board and will get better. You saw what happened the last time I lost, I got better."
