Anthony Hernandez got stopped in the UFC Houston headliner, but he doesn’t plan to sulk.
Hernandez was hoping to make a strong case for the No. 1 contender spot in the middleweight division. Instead, it was Sean Strickland who had a statement-making win. He scored the third-round TKO finish after battering “Fluffy” with a knee to the body, following by punches before the referee called a halt to the fight.
Entering UFC Houston, Hernandez won eight bouts in a row. His winning streak may have been snapped, but “Fluffy” insists he will press on and look to make adjustments. Hernandez addressed the loss to Strickland on his Instagram account (h/t MMAFighting).
“First things first, thank you guys so much everyone who came out,” Hernandez said. “Showing me a lot of love, that was f*cking awesome. Players f*ck up. I mean, I was on an eight-fight win streak. Felt like things were going smooth until I got hit with a f*cking body shot. Shit happens. Part of the game. Took six years for someone to finally beat me. I’ll be back.”
During his eight-fight winning streak, Hernandez defeated the likes of Roman Dolidze, Brendan Allen, Michel Pereira, and Roman Kopylov to name a few. He rose up to become the No. 4-ranked UFC middleweight. Whether he keeps that spot or drops down at least one remains to be seen.
While Hernandez will try to assess what went wrong, Strickland is pushing for a middleweight title shot against Khamzat Chimaev. Whether or not Strickland will get his wish remains to be seen, but many agree it’s the biggest fight that can happen at middleweight. BJPenn.com will keep you posted with the latest updates on the middleweight title picture.
If you were a UFC matchmaker, who would you book Anthony Hernandez to fight next? Tell us in the comments below.