![\"MMA:](\"https:\/\/images.deadspin.com\/tr:w-900\/28310660.jpg\")
Feb 21, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Sean Strickland (red gloves) fights Anthony Hernandez (blue gloves) in a middleweight bout during UFC Fight Night at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\nFormer UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland delivered a knee to the body followed by punches to finish Anthony Hernandez with a TKO victory at 2:23 of the third round in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night event in Houston.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n After a slow-paced start, Strickland picked up the pace at the halfway point of the fight as Hernandez retreated. The win was the first for Strickland (30-7 MMA, 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.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Strickland gave props to Hernandez following the fight after some harsh words were exchanged leading up to it.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n “Fluffy’s the man I want to be,” Strickland said.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Hernandez kept it simple.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n <\/p>\n “I thought it was 1-1 (going into Round 3),” Hernandez said. “Time to get back to work.”<\/p>\n<\/section>\n In the co-headliner, Serbian welterweight Uros Medic needed just 79 seconds to deliver a left hook which finished Geoff Neal for an opening-round KO\/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.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Featherweight Melquizael Cosa of Brazil delivered the sixth spinning back kick KO\/TKO (to the head) in UFC history, finishing Dan Ige at 4:56 of the opening round. The sixth straight win for Costa (20-7 MMA, 7-2 UFC) was also the first KO loss of Ige’s (19-11 MMA, 11-10 UFC) career.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n Moldovan heavyweight Serghei Spivac outlasted Croatia’s Ante Delija by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) to snap a two-fight losing skid. It was Spivac’s (18-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) first win since August 2024, while Delija (26-8 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has lost back-to-back fights since winning his UFC debut last September.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n 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 of his 12 MMA fights thus far, improving to 3-0 in the UFC with his ninth career KO\/TKO victory.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n The UFC Houston main card got underway with an action-packed middleweight fight between Brazil’s Michel Pereira and Zach 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<\/section>\n