Former UFC champion Belal Muhammad doesn’t hide his dislike for Sean Strickland, but he has identified a potential path to victory for him against Anthony Hernandez.
Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) meets Hernandez (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in the middleweight main event of UFC Fight Night 267 (Paramount+) at Toyota Center in Houston. Muhammad, looking at the fight as an objective analyst, believes Strickland can take advantage of one key area.
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“I’m going to try to be as unbiased as possible cuz I hate Strickland and I think he sucks,” Muhammad said on his YouTube channel. “So, stylistically, I’ll break it down and I’ll give my keys. For Strickland, you know what he’s going to come out and do? He’s going to talk, say stupid stuff through fight week. But, he’s going to throw out his jab. He’s going to throw out that teep. I’m going to say over 150 teep kicks for Strickland.
“I will say the only good thing about the teep kick is ‘Fluffy’ has shown that he has a weakness to the body. He’s gotten hurt to the body a couple of times. Kevin Holland finished him with a body shot, and I think (Michel) Pereria rocked him with a body shot too. So, it tells me that’s like a weakness in his game. I don’t know. Remember, Donald Cerrone used to have horrible body shots where he would always break with that. So, maybe ‘Fluffy’ has the same style.”
The last fight Hernandez lost was the first-round stoppage against Holand in May 2020. Since then, he’s rattled off eight straight, including stoppage wins in his first two main event slots. His third will come against his first former champion in Strickland, with a potential shot at the title on the other side of a big win in Houston.
For Strickland, who enters on the heels of a rematch loss to now-former champion Dricus Du Plessis, it’s an opportunity to return to get back on track to work his way back to another title opportunity. In order to do so, Muhammad thinks he can’t get too aggressive and also must keep Hernandez away from controlling the fight with his grappling.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Houston: Former champ identifies key weakness in Anthony Hernandez
