Athletes
Fighters on the Rise | UFC Houston
Offering A Closer Look At Three Competitors Poised To Shine In The Lone Star State
Houston has been the launchpad for a great number of accomplished individuals across a broad spectrum of ventures, including WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker, Academy Award winner Renée Zellweger, boxing legend George Foreman, the greatest gymnast ever, Simone Biles, the 41st and 43rd presidents of the United States, and, most importantly, Beyoncé.
This weekend, the three ascending talents spotlighted below seek to use UFC’s return to Toyota Center as their opportunity to propel themselves forward in their respective divisions. Each touches down in Texas in the best form of their career, looking to build off tremendous 2025 campaigns that saw them go a combined 8-0 with six finishes and four bonuses between them.
Everything is bigger in Texas, including the chance for this trio to make some more noise right out of the gates in 2026.
Here are your Fighters on the Rise for UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Hernandez.
Melquizael Costa
Outside of the biggest names in the sport, few competitors had a better 2025 campaign than Costa, who went from an unheralded member of the featherweight ranks to someone opening this year on a five-fight winning streak and positioned on the fringes of the Top 15.
Melquizael Costa Submits Andre Fili In Round 1 | UFC Seattle
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Melquizael Costa Submits Andre Fili In Round 1 | UFC Seattle
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After submitting Shayilan Nuerdanbieke in his lone appearance of 2024, Costa opened last year with a first-round submission win over Andre Fili, taking full advantage of a tactical mistake and clamping onto a tight guillotine choke. Unanimous decision wins over Christian Rodriguez and Julian Erosa followed, the latter being spirited enough to earn the combatants a shared bonus, and then the Brazilian closed things out with a bang by blasting Morgan Charriere with a high kick 74 seconds into their matchup on the final event of 2025, felling him despite Charriere getting his guard up to lessen the impact of the blow.
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It always sounds like revisionist history when guys like me come around and say there were indicators this being a possibility after someone goes on a run of positive results, but in this case, it’s absolutely true. Costa lost his debut on short notice up a division against Thiago Moises, giving his compatriot a good fight for the better part of two rounds before ultimately getting tapped out. He earned a win in his return to the featherweight division, lost to Steve Garcia, who is currently on a seven-fight winning streak with six finishes, and then began the run detailed above. None of those victories were major upsets or out of the realm of possibility, and with Costa’s good size for the division and well-rounded skill set, he’s done well to turn up locked in on fight night and make the most of his opportunities.
The next test comes in the form of Dan Ige, a featherweight staple who has long been one of the biggest truth machines on the roster. You have to be somebody to get by the Xtreme Couture standout, and even then, he’s going to make you work hard in order to do so, which means Saturday should be a tremendous opportunity to get another read on where Costa stands in the 145-pound ranks.
The division is in the midst of a shift, as a number of tenured talents have either fallen back or moved on, replaced by a wave of new names looking to continue shaking things up. Beating Ige would likely put Costa in the Top 15 and raise his ceiling a little more, setting up another marquee assignment later in the year.
Ramiz Brahimaj
It’s been a big couple of years for Brahimaj, who spent a little over two years on the sidelines dealing with a shoulder and neck issue between March 2022 and May 2024 that left him depressed, questioning whether he would be able to compete again, and wrestling with a number of demons.
Though he lost his return bout against Themba Gorimbo, stepping into the Octagon was a victory in itself, and a few months later, in his hometown of New York City, Brahimaj stopped Mickey Gall with a right hook less than three minutes into their UFC 309 matchup to pick up his first win in nearly three years. Last year, the soft-spoken Bronx native posted consecutive submission wins over Billy Ray Goff and Austin Vanderford to silence any questions about his win over Gall being a fluke and put himself in the mix as someone to keep close tabs on in the welterweight division.
Brahimaj has always had the skills to have success at this level, but the self-belief wasn’t always there, and when you’re competing against the best in the world, you have to know you belong and trust that you’re going to navigate the tough moments and still come out ahead. He’s carried a different level of intensity and focus over these last three fight and connecting with the crew at Valle Flow Striking has helped elevate his game even more as he heads into his 2026 debut opposite Punahele Soriano.
Where Brahimaj just needed to find a rhythm and believe, Soriano needed a change in divisions to kickstart things again, but since moving to the 170-pound weight class, the Hawaiian has gone 3-0, showing a better blend of his skills and the same sudden power that carried him to stoppage wins in each of his first two UFC appearances back in the day.
RELATED: Brahimaj's Destiny
The 33-year-old Brahimaj believes that he’s tapped into something different these days, and it’s his destiny to keep climbing the ranks. Soriano is another excellent stress test for that belief on Saturday, and if he is able to register a fourth straight win —and a fourth straight finish —the proud Albanian fighter should merit a date with someone sporting a number next to their name later in the year.
Carli Judice
As good as Costa and Brahimaj looked last year, Judice is honestly the best prospect of this bunch, as the ascending flyweight is just a couple of weeks shy of turning 27, has earned consecutive stoppage wins, bonuses in all three of her UFC appearances to date, and has a world to room to grow given that she’s only had seven pro fights.
Judice made her amateur debut five years ago and her UFC debut three-and-a-half years later, a gutsy effort in defeat on Dana White’s Contender Series earned her a spot on the roster. Though she landed on the wrong side of the scorecards in her debut, Judice again showed her tenacity and grit, and over the last year, the Louisiana native made everyone sit up and take notice with a pair of stoppage wins.
Yuneisy Duben had a ton of buzz after her knockout win the previous fall on the Contender Series, but Judice was the one who walked away looking like the elite prospect after blasting the newcomer with a head kick 100 seconds into the first round. Four months later, she styled on Nicolle Caliari for two rounds before putting the Brazilian away 90 seconds into the third with a knee to the liver and some follow-up coffin nails.
An athlete in college with quick hands, smooth mechanics, and the spirit to happily wade into the fray, Judice is still a work in progress, but you can see clear upside each time she steps into the Octagon.
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Saturday’s bout against TUF winner Juliana Miller is another chance to showcase her striking skills and possibly display her defensive wrestling and grappling chops, too, and if her 2025 form carries over in Houston, there will be a lot more people talking about her as a rising star in
UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Hernandez took place live from Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on February 21, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!