According to ESPN the UFC has booked middleweights Sean Strickland and Jack Hermansson for a five-round main event slot on February 5. A location for that event is yet to be announced.
Strickland was recently booked to face former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold at last month’s UFC 268. However, that fight failed to materialize after Rockhold suffered a herniated disc.
Prior to being booked against Rockhold, Strickland proved worthy of a step up in competition with a confident win over Uriah Hall over five rounds in July. That fight was Strickland’s first main event in the UFC.
The win gave Strickland five in a row, with previous victories coming over Krzysztof Jotko, Brendan Allen, Jack Marshman and Nordine Taleb. His last defeat came in 2018 at the hands (and foot) of Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos.
Strickland has been with the UFC since 2014 and he has an 11-3 record in the promotion (24-3 overall).
Hermansson had appeared to be on a path to the UFC title picture before coming unstuck versus Jared Cannonier in 2019. He lost that bout due to a thunderous uppercut, spoiling a four fight win streak that included impressive wins over Jacare Souza and David Branch.
The Swede rebounded from his loss to catch Kelvin Gastelum with a quick heel hook in July 2020. He then lost a highly entertaining five-round bout to Marvin Vettori to close the year. This May he took a comfortable decision over Edmen Shahbazyan to improve his UFC record to 9-4 (22-6 overall).
The February 5 event already has 12 fights booked. Among the more intriguing bouts announced for the card are Hakeem Dawudo vs. Mike Trizano, Ian Heinisch vs. Sam Alvey and Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Carlston Harris.
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