Dricus Du Plessis shares prediction for UFC Houston headliner

Dricus Du Plessis shares prediction for UFC Houston headlinerSayan NagFeb 15, 2026

Dricus Du Plessis shares prediction for UFC Houston headliner

Dricus Du Plessisdoesn’t really want to pick a side for the upcoming matchup betweenSean StricklandandAnthony Hernandez.Strickland is scheduled to fight Hernandez in the main event atUFC Houstonon Feb. 21 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Du Plessis is excited for the evenly matched main event. While Du Plessis is impressed with Hernandez’s ability to wear down his opponents, he knows from experience that Strickland is really durable. While Du Plessis isn’t keen on picking a side, he predicts that the fight will go the distance. However, if he had to pick a side, Du Plessis will go with his former foe, Strickland.Likely to Go the Distance“I’m so excited for that fight,” Du Plessis toldFight Forecast. “Hernandez was one of the guys I saw come up… He just goes and goes and goes, and his gas tank is crazy, especially with the way he fights. He strikes, he gets in there, he makes it ugly, and he just breaks his opponents. He breaks them mentally, physically, just with the pure pace. Then you have Strickland, I speak from experience, keeping that guy on the ground, that is another task, and then breaking him physically and mentally, that is not an easy task… I don’t have a prediction for this one… I don’t see a finish in this one. I can almost guarantee that this fight is not going to a finish… This can go either way, but if I have to put money on it, I’m probably going to go with Strickland. Just in terms of his style. If you fight Strickland and you’re going head-to-head, you need really good striking to beat a guy like Strickland.”Strickland (29-7) won the middleweight title with a huge upset overIsrael Adesanyain 2023 but lost it to Du Plessis in his first defense. While Strickland rebounded with a win overPaulo Costa, he came up short in a title rematch against Du Plessis in his last outing in February 2025. Meanwhile, Hernandez (15-2) is riding an eight-fight winning streak with six finishes against battle tested competition.

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