Sean Strickland calls out Anthony Hernandez for UFC showdown
Former UFC champion Sean Strickland tells MMA Junkie he wants to fight Anthony Hernandez in December or January 2026.
LAS VEGAS – Sean Strickland believes in Alex Pereira’s ability to give Jon Jones his only loss in MMA.
Pereira (13-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) expressed his desire to fight Jones (28-1 MMA, 22-1 UFC) on the UFC White House event in June following his title win over Magomed Ankalaev (21-2-1 MMA, 12-2-1 UFC) on Saturday at UFC 320.
UFC CEO Dana White didn’t seem overly enthusiastic about the idea of “Poatan” moving up to heavyweight, but it’s clear that’s what he wants. If it happened and the Jones fight materialized, former UFC champ and Pereira opponent Strickland wouldn’t dismiss his chances.
“If there’s anyone to beat Jon Jones, it’s Alex,” Strickland told MMA Junkie on Monday. “But Jon Jones, that guy can wrestle. That level of black athleticism. That guy can wrestle. The thing about Alex, is he’s really f*cking hard to take down. … He’s a really hard motherf*cker to take down. If you’re going to have any success with him, he better be tired because naturally he has a defensive stance.”
Strickland was part of Pereira’s camp in advance of UFC 320. He said he saw the Brazilian’s determination to get the victory against Ankalaev, whom he has also trained with extensively over the years, and was not surprised by the result.
“The guy has the death punch, dude,” Strickland said. “Ankalaev, he came and trained with us. He’s so f*cking good. Alex just has that thing that comes once in a lifetime, like Chuck Liddell had it. There’s some guys that have that death punch, and that’s Alex.
“I love working with Alex. Alex is one of those dudes where if you give him a tad bit of advice, he absorbs it, he drills it. Ankalaev is my boy. I think Ankalaev is probably like, as far as skill and ability goes, he’s probably one of the best in the world. The guy can f*cking fight. I trained with him. If he were to write a book on MMA, it would be a big f cking book. But Alex just has that little secret sauce, and Ankalaev just doesn’t have it.”
