After UFC Houston, is a title shot next for Sean Strickland?

This past Saturday in the main event of UFC Houston, we saw a potential title eliminator in the middleweight division. Former champion Sean Strickland (30-7) was taking on surging top contender Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez (15-3, 1 NC).

Hernandez had won eight in a row leading up to the fight while Strickland hadn’t fought since his title loss to Dricus Du Plessis last February. Because of their recent trends, Hernandez was the big betting favorite entering the fight on Saturday.

However, it was evident from the jump that he was going to struggle with Strickland’s awkward style. Hernandez immediately opened with pressure but right away, he found Strickland’s job constantly in his face. That said, Strickland was throwing with more purpose on Saturday night at UFC Houston.

He was mixing in more right hands and stung Hernandez multiple times with sharp 1-2s. Hernandez had been suffering opponents with his pace, but he struggled to get any real momentum. The first two rounds were decently close, but the consensus was that Strickland was likely up 2-0.

In the third, Strickland landed the perfect knee to the body that hurt Fluffy bad. Once he was hurt, Strickland didn’t let him recover. He poured it on to get the TKO finish at UFC Houston and he put the finishing touches on arguably his best performance inside the octagon.

What’s next after UFC Houston?

Last September, Nassourdine Imavov picked up a decision win over Caio Borralho in Paris and that was just a few weeks after Khamzat Chimaev became the middleweight champion. It felt inevitable that Imavov and Chimaev would fight in Q1 of 2026 on one of the first Paramount cards.

However, an injury kept Chimaev out of the first quarter and with that, a title fight hasn’t been booked. When situations like that happen, you have to feel for a top contender because all it takes is an incredible performance from a top contender who makes for a bigger title fight and then your shot goes out the window.

I think the UFC is going to give Strickland the next title fight. Unless they are planning on having Chimaev – Imavov fight in April or May, the fight with Strickland is so much bigger. Strickland and Chimaev have a backstory from training and they’ve been going back-and-forth for a while.

Strickland is also coming off a much more impressive win than Imavov and in head-to-head competition, Strickland beat Imavov on extremely short notice. I think Strickland’s next fight is for the title regardless, just a matter of who the opponent is and when. If I’m the UFC, I’m booking Chimaev – Strickland for International Fight Week.