{"id":13073,"date":"2026-02-22T15:42:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=13073"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:42:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:42:53","slug":"sean-strickland-ends-anthony-hernandezs-win-streak-with-tko-victory-mixed-martial-arts-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=13073","title":{"rendered":"Sean Strickland ends Anthony Hernandez\u2019s win streak with TKO victory | Mixed Martial Arts News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>The third-ranked Strickland hands Hernandez his first UFC defeat in more than five years.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">4 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-dates\">\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Published On 22 Feb 2026<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">22 Feb 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rich-share\" data-testid=\"rich-share\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"rich-share__button-wrapper\"><button class=\"rich-share__button row\" aria-expanded=\"false\"><\/p>\n<p>Click here to share on social media<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"icon icon--share2 icon--primary icon--16 \" viewbox=\"0 0 20 16\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><title>share2<\/title><path fill=\"#000\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M11.688 9.048c-.659 0-1.252.282-1.673.733l-4.92-2.45c.016-.115.028-.232.028-.352 0-.117-.011-.23-.027-.343l4.913-2.423a2.285 2.285 0 0 0 1.68.739C12.964 4.952 14 3.899 14 2.6 14 1.302 12.965.25 11.688.25S9.377 1.302 9.377 2.601c0 .117.01.23.027.343L4.49 5.367a2.285 2.285 0 0 0-1.68-.739C1.536 4.628.5 5.681.5 6.979c0 1.299 1.035 2.35 2.312 2.35.659 0 1.252-.281 1.673-.731l4.92 2.45a2.357 2.357 0 0 0-.029.351c0 1.299 1.035 2.351 2.312 2.351S14 12.698 14 11.399s-1.035-2.35-2.312-2.35Z\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"rich-share__social-text\">Share<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Sean Strickland delivered \u200ca knee to the body, followed by punches, to finish Anthony Hernandez with a \u2060technical knockout (TKO) victory at \u20602:23 of the third round in the main event of Saturday\u2019s UFC Fight Night event in Houston, Texas.<\/p>\n<p>After a slow-paced start to the all-American bout, Strickland picked up the pace at the \u2060halfway point of the fight as Hernandez retreated.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 4 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The 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 \u2060snapped, taking his first defeat since May 2020. The victory was Strickland\u2019s first by knockout in more than two years.<\/p>\n<p>Strickland gave props to Hernandez, nicknamed \u201cFluffy\u201d, following the fight after some harsh words were exchanged leading up to it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI cannot thank Fluffy enough,\u201d said Strickland, 34. \u201cHe is the definition of a man. To be honest, Fluffy\u2019s the man I want to be. \u200cHe\u2019s married, a father, a hard worker \u2013 he\u2019s a better man than I could hope to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hernandez, 32, kept it simple.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought it was 1-1 [going into Round 3],\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cTime to get back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4329048\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4329048\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4329048\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2262891907-1771749575.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Sean Strickland and Anthony Hernandez in action.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4329048\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Strickland, left, knocked out Hernandez in the third round [Jack Gorman\/Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Meanwhile, Serbian welterweight Uros Medic needed just 79 seconds to deliver a left hook which finished Geoff Neal for an opening-round TKO.<\/p>\n<p>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 \u2060fights.<\/p>\n<p>Featherweight Melquizael Costa of Brazil delivered the sixth spinning back kick TKO (to \u2060the head) in UFC history, finishing Dan Ige at 4:56 of the opening round. The sixth straight win for Costa (26-7 MMA, 7-2 UFC) was also the first knockout loss of Ige\u2019s (19-11 MMA, 11-10 UFC) career.<\/p>\n<p>Moldovan heavyweight Serghei Spivac \u2060outlasted Croatia\u2019s Ante Delija by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) to snap a two-fight losing skid. It was Spivac\u2019s (18-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) first win since \u2060August 2024, while Delija (26-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has lost \u2060back-to-back fights since winning his UFC debut last September.<\/p>\n<p>In a battle of unbeaten welterweights, Jacobe Smith (12-0 MMA) made quick work of UFC debutant Josiah Harrell (11-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC), needing just 3:01 to secure the first-round TKO stoppage. Smith has finished 10 \u200cof his 12 MMA fights thus far, improving to 3-0 in the UFC with his ninth career KO\/TKO victory.<\/p>\n<p>The UFC Houston main card got under way with an action-packed middleweight fight between Brazil\u2019s Michel \u200cPereira \u200cand Zachary Reese. Pereira (32-14 MMA, 10-5 UFC) earned a split-decision win (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) to snap a three-fight losing streak. Reese (10-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) had won two of his last three fights entering Saturday night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The third-ranked Strickland hands Hernandez his first UFC defeat in more than five years. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a04 mins info Published On 22 Feb 202622 Feb 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Sean Strickland delivered \u200ca knee to the body, followed by punches, to finish [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}