Sean Strickland News

Cole Shelton - February 18, 2026

Sean Strickland expects to make a statement at UFC Houston. Strickland is set to headline UFC Houston on Saturday against Anthony Hernandez in a pivotal fight at middleweight. Heading into the fight, Strickland is a +230 underdog on FanDuel, but he expects to hand him the upset at UFC Houston.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - February 18, 2026

Sean Strickland believes forces outside of UFC will lead to Khamzat Chimaev eventually defending the middleweight gold. Strickland is known for being outspoken, and his stance on Chimaev’s inactivity is no exception. Chimaev was last seen inside the Octagon when he turned in a brilliant grappling display against Dricus du Plessis. After nearly 22 minutes of control time, Chimaev won the UFC Middleweight Championship via unanimous decision.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - February 18, 2026

Former UFC heavyweight legend Cain Velasquez was recently released from prison 10 months after pleading no contest to attempted murder, among other charges. The circumstances around Velasquez’s sentence have been heavily discussed, and Sean Strickland is glad that the former champion is a free man. Last year, Velasquez was given a five-year sentence with 1,283 days credited for time served. Back in Feb. 2022, Velasquez shot at a vehicle with Harry Goularte as a passenger. Goularte’s stepfather suffered a non-life threatening injury during the incident. Goularte has been accused of molesting Velasquez’s son and is awaiting trial for a felony charge of lewd acts with a minor. Despite this, Goularte is currently out on bail.

Cole Shelton - February 16, 2026

Anthony Hernandez is eager to throw down with Sean Strickland on Saturday. Hernandez is set to headline UFC Houston on Saturday against Strickland in a pivotal fight at middleweight. Heading into the bout, Hernandez is a sizable -310 favorite while the former champ is a +230 underdog on FanDuel.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - February 13, 2026

Sean Strickland believes he’s got the best shot to take the UFC Middleweight Championship from Khamzat Chimaev. Strickland may have dropped two bouts against Dricus du Plessis, but he feels he could give Chimaev some problems with his fighting style. Talking to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Strickland said that he’d have a better chance of dethroning “Borz” than his UFC Houston opponent Anthony Hernandez (h/t MMAFighting).

Harry Kettle - January 30, 2026

Sean Strickland’s coach Eric Nicksick has given his thoughts on his student’s wrestling ahead of his next fight. In his next outing, Sean Strickland will go head to head with the in-form Anthony Hernandez in the main event of UFC Houston. It has the potential to be one of the best middleweight fights of the year, but as we know, Sean can be a bit hot and cold when it comes to the drama of his fights and the style he implements.

BJ Penn Staff - January 17, 2026

Sean Strickland is one of the enigmatic fighters in the UFC right now. No stranger to controversy, he has plenty of fans and plenty of haters. The can be said of Nick Diaz. Given their unique characters it was pretty cool to seem them cross paths for the first time recently.

BJ Penn Staff - January 16, 2026

Former UFC middleweight champ Sean Strickland has once again divided the MMA world with a controversial social media post — and rising middleweight contender Joe Pyfer quickly followed his lead. Strickland and Pyfer are two of the top Americans competing in the UFC middleweight division. Both have big fights coming up. Strickland is set to take on surging contender Anthony Hernandez in the main event of UFC Houston on Feb. 21. Pyfer, meanwhile, will take on middleweight legend Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC Seattle on Mar. 28.

Curtis Calhoun - January 7, 2026

Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland revealed he suffered a serious injury leading up to his rematch with Dricus du Plessis. It’s been almost a full year since UFC fans have seen former titleholder Sean Strickland compete inside the Octagon.

Harry Kettle - December 19, 2025

UFC middleweight Sean Strickland has torn into Tom Aspinall for the saga surrounding his recent eye injury. While he may be the UFC heavyweight champion, things aren’t going great for Tom Aspinall right now. He is on the verge of needing surgery to correct a nasty eye injury that he sustained at the hands of Ciryl Gane back at UFC 321, when the Frenchman poked him directly in both of his eyes to cause a no contest.

Curtis Calhoun - December 2, 2025

Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland declined the promotion’s offer to fight Anthony Hernandez for a bizarre reason. Former UFC champion Sean Strickland is potentially weeks away from making his return to the Octagon for the first time since UFC 312. Strickland lost to Dricus du Plessis by unanimous decision before being served a lengthy Nevada State Athletic Commission suspension due to an incident at a local MMA event.

Curtis Calhoun - November 13, 2025

Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland backed Brandon Royval’s viral rant about fighting at The White House. Former UFC flyweight title challenger Brandon Royval made headlines earlier this week during an appearance on the In The Arena MMA podcast.

Cole Shelton - October 22, 2025

Robert Whittaker believes the time is now for him to fight Sean Strickland. Whittaker has wanted to fight Strickland for quite some time, and with both on the outside looking in for the title picture, the Aussie believes a battle of former champions makes sense. He also wants the fight to happen on the White House card, as he expects it to be a fan-friendly striking fight.

Curtis Calhoun - October 15, 2025

UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev made some wild accusations against Sean Strickland stemming from their past training sessions. Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland isn’t known to have many allies in Mixed Martial Arts due to his controversial behavior in and out of the cage. Strickland is currently serving a suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission stemming from a post-fight brawl at a Tuff-N-Uff event in Las Vegas earlier this year.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - October 7, 2025

If one ex-UFC champion is correct, then Alex Pereira might be the one to hand Jon Jones his first non-disqualification loss. Pereira has dazzled fight fans throughout his combat sports career, and he secured another signature moment this past Saturday. “Poatan” challenged Magomed Ankalaev for the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship in a rematch. Pereira had lost the gold in their first encounter, but things were quite different at UFC 320.

Curtis Calhoun - October 6, 2025

Former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland has a top name in mind for his planned comeback fight. After Khamzat Chimaev secured the UFC middleweight title two months ago at UFC 319, a slew of contenders are making strong cases for the next title shot. Chimaev brought Dricus du Plessis’s title reign to a screeching halt in a dominant performance in Chicago.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - September 8, 2025

Joe Rogan is curious to see if the UFC middleweight division’s “biggest star” can leapfrog his way to another title fight. Khamzat Chimaev is the reigning 185-pound titleholder following a dominant grappling performance against Dricus du Plessis back in August. Nassourdine Imavov made a case for the next middleweight title shot after defeating Caio Borralho at UFC Paris. The winner of the Oct. 18 bout between Reinier de Ridder and Anthony Hernandez also has a chance to secure the next 185-pound title shot.

Harry Kettle - September 8, 2025

UFC veteran Sean Strickland has questioned Caio Borralho’s preparation following his one-sided defeat at UFC Paris. Last weekend at UFC Paris, Caio Borralho fell to a decision loss at the hands of Nassourdine Imavov. As a result, Caio’s push for a UFC middleweight title shot has stalled. As we look ahead to the future, it’s not clear as to what direction he’ll go in next as the Fighting Nerds star attempts to re-group and find out where exactly things went wrong.