Former champion gives UFC Houston main event prediction

A middleweight clash between former champion Sean Strickland (29-7) and red hot rising contender Anthony "Fluffy" Hernandez (14-2, 1 NC) headlines Saturday's UFC Houston fight card.

Strickland enters the match ranked No. 3 in the division and coming off a one-sided loss to former champion Dricus du Plessis. Hernandez will be bringing an eight-fight winning steak with him to the octagon inside Toyota Center.

It's a bout that could lead to a title fight opportunity. Former welterweight titleholder Belal Muhammad broke down the match up and gave his prediction on his YouTube channel.

"I'm going to try to be as unbiased as possible because I hate Strickland and I think he sucks," Muhammad said. "I'll break it down. I'll give my keys for Strickland. You know what he's going to come out and do. He's going to talk, say stupid stuff through fight week. But, he's going to throw out his jab. He's going to throw out that teep. I'm going to say over 150 teep kicks for Strickland.

"I will say, the only thing good about the teep kick is Fluffy has shown that he has a weakness to the body. He's gotten hurt to the body a couple of times. Kevin Holland finished him with a body shot, and I think [Michel] Pereira rocked him with a body shot too. That tells me something. That's like a weakness in his game," continued Muhammad.

"For Strickland, you've got to keep him at that jab length. You've got to keep him at that teep length. You can't let him get into a rhythm of shooting, taking you down, and constantly making you work because that's what Fluffy is best at."

Before focusing on what Hernandez needs to do to win, Muhammad warned Strickland about moving forward too much, advised him not to 'get wild with his punches,' and to control the distance.

"For Hernandez, I think you've got to shoot early. You've got to attack early. You've got to get him working early. Strickland has been in a lot of five-round fights and he knows how to keep a pace where he gets the guy on his rhythm, following him, trying to figure out his defensive style," said Muhammad.

"But if you're coming forward, shooting in on his body, not shooting in on the legs, making him work, frustrating him, not giving him any chance to hit you with the jab, hit you with the teep kick. You've got to attack him. You've got to move forward. You've got to get him on the fence right away."

Muhammad ultimately picked Hernandez to defeat Strickland, but it could have been a personal prediction.

"I'm picking Fluffy. I think that pace is going to be too hard to keep up with. I just want to see him break Strickland," he said.