Former middleweight champion Sean Strickland headlines Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 267 fight card in Houston, Texas against No. 4 ranked Antony “Fluffy” Hernandez. It’s a match that will either see a former titleholder stay in contention, or a rising star continue his ascension to the top of the division.
Former middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis has been in the octagon with Strickland for 25 minutes and emerged victorious. “Stillknocks” weighed in on this weekend’s main event matchup and gave his prediction.
“I’m so excited for that fight. Hernandez is one of those guys that I saw come up. We actually were scheduled to fight and you know, circumstances with the fight, didn’t happen. But I mean, as of late, and always, his fight style is just crazy. He just goes and goes and goes. HIs gas tank is crazy, especially with the way he fights,” du Plessis told Fight Forecast.
“He strikes, he gets in there, he makes it ugly, and he just breaks his opponents. He just breaks them mentally and physically just with the pure pace,” du Plessis continued. “And then you have Strickland, keeping that guy on the ground is, you know, I speak from experience, keeping that guy on the ground, it’s another task. And then breaking him physically and mentally, that is not an easy task.”
Considering the fighting styles of the two, du Plessis believes the fight will go the distance at Toyota Center on Saturday and hesitantly picked a winner.
“I don’t see a finish in this fight. I can almost guarantee that this fight is not going to finish,” predicted du Plessis. “You have two guys with great gas tanks. Strickland, he’s tough. You’re not just going to knock him out. I mean, you can. You can. Hernandez doesn’t really have that power and that’s not his style.”
“This could go either way, but if I had to put money on it I’m probably going to go Strickland. I’m probably going to go with Strickland,” he said.
