Sean Strickland returned to the octagon in emphatic fashion at UFC Fight Night 267 when he wiped out streaking contender Anthony Hernandez.
It was a critical performance from Strickland (30-7 MMA, 17-7 UFC), who was a big underdog to Hernandez (15-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) in the headliner at Toyota Center in Houston. Many viewed it as his moment to be ushered out of the middleweight title picture, but instead, he delivered a firm reminder he’s still here with a third-round TKO finish.
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The former 185-pound titleholder showed more aggression and tenacity than the listless efforts he can often produce. That paid off in a big way, and now Strickland could have a real opportunity to get another shot at the belt.
Strickland took more than a year off after losing his rematch to then-champ Dricus Du Plessis in February 2025. Since then, Khamzat Chimaev has taken possession of the strap, and there appears to be some genuine bad blood between the pair.
A training session between Strickland and Chimaev from years ago at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas has taken on a lore of its own. Both men offer different versions of what happened, and it was once again a point of discussion in the aftermath of the event when Strickland called out the undefeated champion.
Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) responded to the “American b*tch,” and it’s possible we could be looking at a UFC White House title fight, or a matchup of magnitude on another numbered event in 2026.
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No more can be said without acknowledging Nassourdine Imavov, though, and how unfair it would be for him to be left out of the next title fight after putting together a six-fight unbeaten streak that includes wins over Caio Borralho, Israel Adesanya and Brendan Allen.
If it were a pure meritocracy, Imavov (17-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) has the better recent wins. Strickland does have a head-to-head victory over Imavov from 2023, albeit on short notice and at light heavyweight. Moreover, Strickland has the name value and following that, in this era of the UFC, is a major checkmark in his favor.
The only way Strickland vs. Chimaev isn’t made next, in this writer’s opinion, is if someone at TKO, the UFC or Paramount makes the call that putting in a Strickland in such a hate-fuelled scenario, where he will surely push all boundaries with Chimaev in the lead-up to fight, is simply something they don’t want to deal with.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Houston matchmaker: Who’s next for Sean Strickland after win?
