Jack Hermansson vs. Sean Strickland Booked to Headline UFC Fight Night on Feb. 5

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Two top-10 Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweights will have 25 minutes to handle their business in February.

The promotion’s broadcast partner of ESPN announced the headliner of the UFC Fight Night event on Feb. 5 on Friday. Across five rounds at 185 pounds, Jack Hermansson (22-6) and Sean Strickland (24-3) will toe the line in search of a top-five spot in the division. The fight is likely to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, although that has not yet been officially confirmed.

Sweden’s Hermansson has alternated wins and losses in his last five, with victories over Ronaldo Souza, Kelvin Gastelum and Edmen Shahbazyan interspersed by defeats to Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori. Leading up to his meeting with Cannonier, Hermansson had strung together four victories in a row, beating names like Ronaldo Souza and Gerald Meerschaert on his way up the middleweight ranks. “The Joker” sports a high career finish rate of 77%, with six stoppage wins to his credit during his Octagon tenure.

The polarizing Strickland has chained together five straight victories, most recently a five-round decision win over Uriah Hall in July. As a middleweight, Strickland has yet to taste defeat, with all three of his career losses to Santiago Ponzinibbio, Kamaru Usman and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos coming at 170 pounds. Since returning to the division in 2020, Strickland has won three times, and “Tarzan” also scored a knockout of Brendan Allen at a 195-pound catchweight contest on short notice.

The UFC Fight Night event with no current number on Feb. 5 has a mostly filled billing, although the bout order has not yet been determined. Of note, Sam Alvey will try to earn his first win in eight fights when he takes on fellow struggling middleweight Ian Heinisch. Additionally, a rescheduled pairing between “The Ultimate Fighter: Season 29” middleweight finalists Bryan Battle and Tresean Gore is set for this show slated for Las Vegas at the UFC Apex.