As far as momentum goes, perhaps no fighter outside of Imavov has more in the division than Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez. The Dana White’s Contender Series alumnus extended his winning streak to eight in 2025 with a decision win over Brendan Allen and a vicious submission victory over Roman Dolidze. Progressively, he has developed a sort of cult following that adores his in-your-face, nonstop style and no-nonsense attitude. To describe it more bluntly, fans love the fact that he fights like a sicko. Hernandez was scheduled to face Reinier de Ridder in a main event in Vancouver before injury knocked him out for the rest of the year, but he’ll get his chance at that major victory when he faces Strickland in the main event on February 21.
Allen bounced back from his loss to Hernandez with a decision win over Marvin Vettori in his home state of Louisiana before stepping in for Hernandez and stopping de Ridder in Vancouver. The latter was a major moment for Allen, a big-time win in a situation he may have previously faltered. At 30 years old, he seems to have tapped into his potential and heads into 2026 perhaps a couple wins from title contention.
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Borralho and de Ridder are in similar spots, having cultivated a lot of buzz in 2025 before stumbling to end the year, which makes their March 7 booking against each other intriguing and important. Borralho suffered his first loss in eight Octagon appearances when he fell short against Imavov, while “RDR” saw his momentum evaporate in Vancouver. However, a win in March would return them to the title picture and in search of a No. 1 contender bout.
In the midst of all the new contenders on the middleweight horizon, knockout artists Gregory Rodrigues and Joe Pyfer ended 2025 strongly. “Robocop” bounced back from his main event loss to Jared Cannonier with a stunning knockout of Jack Hermansson at UFC 317. He followed that with a steady and strong win over Roman Kopylov at UFC 322, proving he very much belongs with Top-15 competition. Pyfer had a bumpy start to 2025 after he needed to pull out of his fight with Kelvin Gastelum in Mexico City, but he took home a decision win over the UFC Hall of Fame member when they rebooked the fight for UFC 316. He got back to his finishing ways when he submitted Abus Magomed at UFC 320, and the 29-year-old seems to be rapidly improving and adjusting to life in and out of the Octagon as he continues as a name to watch.
Other Names to Track: Brunno Ferreira, Ikram Aliskerov, Christian Leroy Duncan
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