Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is leaving the friendly confines of Meta APEX, taking its show on the road as UFC Houston goes down later TONIGHT (Sat., Feb. 21, 2026) inside Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Headlining the Paramount+-streamed event will be a Middleweight bout between Sean Strickland vs. Anthony Hernandez. In the co-main event, Geoff Neal will battle Uros Medic in a hard-hitting pivotal Welterweight affair that will more than likely end in violence.

What’s Hot:

Strickland, as usual, has been ruffling feathers all week in “H-Town” with his cringey takes on Gina Carano vs. Ronda Rousey, while also taking more shots at “Fluffy” and the overall state of current affairs. Weeks back, “Tarzan” drew the ire of Hernandez after he posted his own fight poster that depicts himself wearing an ICE outfit, while “Fluffy” is wearing a sombrero. It’s a pretty pathetic attempt at humor and Hernandez did not like it one bit, promising to “torture” him come fight night. And it’s something he can very well do as Hernandez is one of the toughest 185-pound fighters in the sport. He is also scorching hot with eight straight wins and getting No. 9 over “Tarzan” would put him over and get him closer to a possible title shot. He hasn’t tasted defeat in nearly five years and he is ready for his time to shine in one of his biggest tests to date.

As for Strickland, this will be his first fight after serving a suspension for a brawl he was involved in during a regional show (details here). Strickland (No. 3) hasn’t been inside the cage since coming up short in his bid to reclaim the 185-pound strap from Dricus du Plessis more than one year ago. He is just 1-2 in his last three fights, so he needs a win pretty badly here for his own confidence. He won’t get back to a title shot with a win, but it would obviously get him one step closer. He will have his hands full because he is facing a streaking fighter who has a lot of built-in anger. That said, he will have to control that because despite his recent struggles, Strickland is as gritty as they come.

What’s Not:

Nora Cornolle (No. 12) is coming off a loss to Karol Rosa and is 1-2 in her last three outings under UFC’s banner. Joselyne Edwards (No. 14), meanwhile, is currently riding a three-fight win streak into their women’s Bantamweight bout. Again, this is a case of matchmakers linking up a streaking fighter against a struggling one. Granted, they are only separated by two spots on the rankings, but it doesn’t seem like a fitting paring given their recent respective runs.

Original Card Vs. Actual Card/Injuries

A Welterweight bout between Austin Vanderford vs. Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani was scheduled for this event before Vanderford withdrew for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Philip Rowe (who missed weight).

New Blood:

Lebosnoyani will bring his four-fight win streak to the Octagon for his official Octagon debut after punching his ticket via Contender Series. Originally set to face Vanderford as mentioned earlier, he will now battle Rowe, who is 1-3 in his last four bouts.

Brain surgery survivor, Josiah Harrell, will bring his undefeated record (11-0) with him when he makes his UFC debut against Jacobe Smith. Harrell has stopped 10 of his 11 opponents, making him an exciting fighter whose main objective is to entertain and get the finish as fast as possible. As for Smith, he is also undefeated (11-0) with nine stoppage wins and is perfect (2-0) under UFC’s banner.

How The ‘Prelims’ Look:

Carlos Leal is just 1-2 in his first three UFC fights, while Chidi Njokuani saw his three-fight win streak go up in smoke after coming up short against Jake Matthews back in July 2025. They both need a win to get their grooves back, so this Welterweight bout could see a lot of intensity as it’s headlining the undercard portion of the event.

Ode Osbourne is 1-4 in his last five fights so he could use a win pretty badly when he battles Alibi Idris. Osbourne’s struggles aren’t exactly surprising because he hasn’t gotten much steam going inside the Octagon. As for Idris, he started off on the wrong foot in his UFC career, losing to Joseph Morales in back Aug. 2025, the first (and only) loss of his professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career.

Ramiz Brahimaj and Punahele Soriano are both riding three-fight win streaks, and one man will go on to win his fourth in a row, which would be big for his career moving forward because it could earn him his first-ever spot in the Top 15.

Yadier del Valle, meanwhile, is an undefeated (10-0) rising Featherweight contender representing Cuba very proudly with his performances, which includes back-to-back submission wins in his first two bouts inside the Octagon. He will face Jordan Leavitt, who has alternated wins and losses over his last five bouts and is coming off a submission win over Kurt Holobaugh (see that here).

Opening up the event will be a women’s Flyweight bout between Julianna Miller vs. Carli Judice. Miller — a disrespected betting underdog here — snapped her two-fight skid by defeating Ivana Petrovic in her last outing, while Judice is currently on a two-fight technical knockout win streak.

Luis Gurule came into UFC’s ranks undefeated (10-0), but has been unable to parlay his previous run into success with the promotion because he dropped his first two bouts. If he starts his promotional run with three straight defeats it could lead to his release. He will tango with Alden Coria, who is unbeaten in his last five bouts and made good on his Octagon debut, defeating Alessandro Costa via third round technical knockout.

Who Needs A Win Badly:

Michel Pereira was once a rising star with the promotion thanks to his unorthodox — yet, exciting — fight style. But, after starting his UFC career with a 9-2 record, he has since dropped three in a row with his last win coming nearly two years ago. He will attempt to get back on track when he battles Zachary Reese, who is 4-1-1 in his last six outings. I don’t think UFC will cut Pereira should he lose, but it’s in his best interest that he deliver a winning performance to not risk it.

Interest Level: 6.5/10

Ante Delija got off to a great start to his UFC career, defeating Marcin Tybura via first round knockout (re-live that here); however, the former Professional Fighters League (PFL) knockout artist stumbled in his sophomore effort six months later, losing to Waldo Cortes-Acosta via unanimous decision. Now, the former Tom Aspinall’s main training partner will attempt to get back into the win column when he goes up against heavy-hitting Serghei Spivac, who could use a big win since his has lost his last two and three of four overall.

Melquizael Costa is currently on a five-fight win streak and hasn’t tasted defeat in 2.5 years. “Dalmatian” will now attempt to secure his sixth consecutive victory when he battles Dan Ige, who is ranked No. 14 at 145 pounds. That said, Ige has had a rough stretch as of late, losing three of his last four, which includes his most recent defeat at the hands of Patricio Pitbull in July 2025. This should be an exciting fight because “50K” always brings the heat win, lose or draw. As for Costa, he is looking to keep his momentum going and a win over Ige could get him into the Top 15.

Geoff Neal was once a rising contender who had the ability and skills to fight for the 170-pound title, but he has really fallen off as of late. In fact, he is just 1-3 in his last four outings and is coming off a knockout loss at the hands of Carlos Prates (see it again here). “Handz of Stone” will attempt to get back on track when he goes head up against Uros Medic. The sensational striker has won all six of his fights by way of knockout, so “The Doctor” knows how to deliver the goods. He is currently on a two-fight win streak so a third straight stoppage win would do wonders for his hopes of crashing the rankings.

Enjoy the fights!

Full UFC Houston Fight Card:

UFC Houston Main Event on Paramount+:

185 lbs.: Sean Strickland vs. Anthony Hernandez

UFC Houston Main Card on Paramount+ (8 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Geoff Neal vs. Uros Medic
145 lbs.: Melquizael Costa vs. Dan Ige
265 lbs.: Ante Delija vs. Serghei Spivac
170 lbs.: Jacobe Smith vs. Josiah Harrell (not Seok Hyeon Ko)
185 lbs.: Michel Pereira vs. Zach Reese

UFC Houston ‘Prelims’ Card On Paramount+ (5 p.m. ET):

170 lbs.: Carlos Leal vs. Chidi Njokuani
125 lbs.: Alibi Idiris vs. Ode Osbourne
125 lbs.: Alden Coria vs. Luis Gurule
135 lbs.: Nora Cornolle vs. Joselyne Edwards
170 lbs.: Ramiz Brahimaj vs. Punahele Soriano
170 lbs.: Jean-Paul Lebosnoyani vs. Phil Rowe
145 lbs.: Yadier del Valle vs. Jordan Leavitt
125 lbs.: Carli Judice vs. Juliana Miller

*Fight card, bout order and amount of fights remain subject to change

Don’t forget to checkout the rest of the UFC Houston main card predictions RIGHT HERE.