Hermansson vs Strickland UFC betting picks & top odds

Jack Hermansson and Sean Strickland clash in a battle between two top-10 middleweights this Saturday night in the main event of UFC Fight Night 200. Strickland will be looking for a sixth-straight win in Las Vegas as he tries to battle his way into the division’s top five.

Hermansson vs Strickland matchup, form & stats

Sean Strickland (20-3-0) had a two-year layoff between his knockout win over Nordine Taleb in October of 2018 and his decision win over Jack Marshman in October of 2020. Strickland has proceeded to earn wins over Brendan Allen, Krysztof Jotko and Uriah Hall, improving to 5-0 over his last five fights in the process. A win over his no.6-ranked opponent this weekend would almost certainly earn Strickland a crack at a top-five middleweight next.

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Jack Hermansson (22-6-0) had a four-fight winning streak snapped with a knockout loss to Jared Cannonier back in September of 2019. Hermansson is 2-1 since then, earning wins over Kelvin Gastelum and Edmen Shahbazyan with a loss to Marvin Vettori in between. Four of Hermansson’s last six wins have come via stoppage with one knockout and three submission victories over that stretch.

Hermansson vs Strickland predictions & best bets

This should be a great litmus test fight for both of these fighters. Jack Hermansson is 8-3-0 over his last 11 fights, and all three of those losses have come against top-five middleweights in Thiago Santos (currently ranked no.5), Jared Cannonier (currently no.3) and Marvin Vettori (currently no.2). Hermansson has failed to beat the division’s top fighters but has won against just about everyone else.

So where does Sean Strickland rank? A win over Hermansson would be a great indicator that he is ready for bigger and better things. Strickland has passed each of the recent tests placed before him, snapping Brendan Allen’s seven-fight winning streak in 2020 and Uriah Hall’s four-fight winning streak last year.

We lean towards Strickland getting the job done here; he has looked the part of a top-five middleweight and has a great shot at winning this fight. But at these UFC betting odds, the value appears to be on Hermansson. Hermansson is always a threat to find a stoppage win both standing up and on the mat, and even his recent loss to Vettori was a competitive five-round Fight of the Night. Strickland is worth a look if the odds change significantly, but at +180 head-to-head, Hermansson is certainly live to an upset.