Last night (Sat., Feb. 21, 2026), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Toyota Center in Houston, Texas for UFC Houston. In the main event, rising grinder Anthony Hernandez put his eight-fight win streak on the line versus former champion Sean Strickland in a pivotal Middleweight contest with serious title implications. Alas, it was a bit of a grind to get to the good stuff, as the “Prelims” featured a ton of 15-minute wrestling-heavy matches that delayed the start of the main card by an extra 20 or so minutes … at least there were fewer ads?
Fortunately, this column has the advantage of skipping the mediocre and highlighting the premium cuts. Let’s take a look back over the best performances and techniques of the evening:
Still A Contender
Sean Strickland shut down the hottest rising contender in the Middleweight division.
The former champion lived up to his pre-fight promise by making Hernandez look very ordinary. He has a habit of drawing opponents into his preferred style of fight, and Hernandez was no different. Try as he might to string together combinations or enter on the hips, “Fluffy” still found himself getting jabbed up in short exchanges. Strickland did a really good job of staying side-on to Hernandez, which prevented “Fluffy” from picking up his legs easily. Then, Strickland’s unique style of parrying deflected a lot of his punches, making the jab the real difference-maker in the first two rounds.
Hernandez tried to turn up the heat in the third, because the fight was slipping away from him. He pressed relentlessly, really trying to occupy the space right in front of Strickland to extend exchanges and force a mistake. Instead, Strickland used his presence against him, timing a counter knee to the belly that badly hurt Hernandez. Strickland followed up with a rare surge of aggression, refusing to let his foe off the hook.
As a result, he picked up his first knockout win since 2023 and definitively returns to the title mix. With Dricus du Plessis dethroned and Khamzat possibly abandoning the division, anything is possible in the next six months! We might just see a second Strickland title reign after all.
Medic Flatlines Neal
In classic Uros Medic fashion, this fight was over before it really started.
Neal was moving well to start the fight, trying to draw Medic forward or burst in and catch him flat-footed. Instead, it was Medic who found the mark first with a series of snapping front kicks to the body. He was throwing them naked and to punctuate combinations, and the kicks were clearly giving Neal pause. Neal tried to press through the kicks, but a Medic counter hook stung the veteran and backed him off.
Medic, ever the aggressor, surged forward with reckless abandon. He swung with confidence, putting volume in Neal’s face. “Handz of Steel” kept his guard high and threw a check hook, but Medic’s combination punching won the day with a nasty overhand that landed directly on the temple. Neal hit the canvas completely cold, and in just 79 seconds, Medic picked up the biggest win of his career by a significant margin.
How good is Medic? It’s hard to say. His standup is clearly ferocious, but he has yet to prove that his grappling has improved since some of his earlier UFC losses. If he has managed to shore up the takedown defense, Medic could become a real player at 170 pounds — nobody wants to get hit by the Serbian “Doctor.”
The First Man To Stop Dan Ige
Melquizael Costa just made an absolute statement.
Dan Ige entered the fight looking to wrestle and close the distance. He landed an early takedown, but Costa smoothly used the butterfly guard to wrestle up to his feet. In the clinch, Costa scored a brief takedown of his own and lots of digging knees before separating back to space. Once in the open, Ige was absolutely stranded at distance. He tried to hit the body, but Costa was smashing his arms with round kicks and sneaking through connections to the chin as well. The kickboxing was immediately one-sided, and Ige was getting chewed up.
As the round came to a close, Costa spun into a beautiful back kick that caught Ige perfectly as he dipped into the blow. The Hawaiian fell like he’d been shot, carrying an expression of miserable pain on his face. Ige is certified as tough as they come, so I can only assume that the spin kick broke his orbital or cheekbone.
Regardless, this is a tremendous moment for Costa, who becomes the first man to stop Ige despite a wealth of world-class talent previously trying. The 29-year-old has now won six straight, will be ranked early next week, and has previously called for a main event in Brazil for his next fight. Let’s get him booked with his well-deserved headlining opportunity!
Jacobe Smith, Mega Prospect
So … Jacobe Smith is f—king terrifying!
Short-notice replacement Josiah Harrell was game, undefeated, and accomplished in his own right. He kicked the body heavily, kept his guard high, and initiated some wrestling on his own terms. None of it mattered in the least, however, because Smith is apparently such an otherworldly athlete that he can bowl over legitimately skilled and talented opposition given a slight opportunity. The man’s muscles have muscles, yet the accomplished wrestler is still composed and fluid while striking and transitioning between the different realms of MMA.
The finish here was such a dramatic reversal of fortunes. Harrell timed a takedown beautifully into side control, and his reward was a headstand roll over by Smith that instantly reversed the position. A second later, Smith unloaded a brutal series of ground strikes, an onslaught made nastier by the referee’s delayed and hesitant intervention.
It takes a special fighter to instantly reverse and finish an opponent for doing something correctly. Usually, we see prospects capitalizing on mistakes, whereas this was a wild display of initiative and athleticism alike. Smith may be just 3-0 inside the Octagon, but he very much looked the part of a future champion in “H-Town.”
Additional Thoughts
- Carlos Leal defeats Chidi Njokuani via unanimous decision: There’s no argument: this was the best fight of the early card, particularly the incredible first round! Leal puts together lovely boxing combinations at a relentless rate, while Njokuani was content to meet his offense with a high guard and crafty Muay Thai. It was a beautiful style clash between two men who exchanged nasty shots without backing off for 15 full minutes. Leal took the first round cleanly off raw aggression and volume, but the second and third could have gone either way, as Njokuani’s body shots and leg kicks began to take some of the steam off Leal’s shots. In the end, the judges sided with Leal, but this was high quality kickboxing in four-ounce gloves from start to finish. There weren’t enough knockdowns or serious momentum shifts to make it an instant classic, but this was great viewing if you enjoy tactical, technical, and violent MMA striking.
- Joselyne Edwards defeats Nora Cornolle via second-round rear naked choke (highlights): Did anyone expect the most violent finish of the “Prelims” to come from Joselyne Edwards?!? The resurgent Panamanian contender was mostly getting beaten up in this rematch, as she pushed into the clinch repeatedly only to find herself getting smashed by elbows and knees. Doubling down on takedowns turned out to be the solution, as she managed to get behind Cornolle in the clinch. With an arm pinned, Edwards picked the French athlete up and slammed her with an audible crash. Cornolle was unconscious, but the referee let the bout continue on anyway, thus the official RNC finish. As it turned out, Edwards’ slam also injured Cornolle’s shoulder in addition to producing the sudden strangle — that’s some serious impact!