Uroš Medić knocks out Geoff Neal, breaks into welterweight rankings at UFC Houston
uroš medić landed a left hook a little over a minute into the opening round to knock out Geoff Neal at UFC Houston on Sat., Feb. 21, 2026, a finish that vaulted him into the UFC welterweight rankings and stole the co-main spotlight from the Toyota Center card.
Co-main delivers quick, brutal ending
The co-main event between Geoff Neal and Uros Medic did not reach the judges: Medic caught Neal with a left hook just past the 60-second mark of round one and ended the fight by knockout, a sequence that added a high-profile win to Medic’s string of finishes. The event took place inside the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 21, 2026.
Uroš Medić seals win with left hook a little over a minute in
Uroš Medić, a 32-year-old finisher who had never seen the judges’ scorecards in his professional career, completed the sequence that earned him a ranking. Medic had arrived in Houston on the back of back-to-back 63-second knockouts of Gilbert Urbina and Muslim Salikhov; those finishes had already positioned him for a crack at the division’s elite, and the Neal stoppage pushed him into the welterweight rankings.
Neal entered as a favorite with troubled recent form
Geoff Neal went into the matchup as a heavily backed veteran: one account listed him around a two-to-one favorite, while MMAmania’s “Weekend Lock” column specifically chose Neal to win by knockout at -135. Neal came to Houston as the division’s No. 12-ranked contender and as a fighter who has 10 career knockouts, but he was also coming off a brutal knockout loss to Carlos Prates in his only outing of 2025 and had gone 1-3 dating back to 2023.
History of finishes and stepping-up struggles
Medic’s career had been defined by endings inside the distance, but he had also fallen short when stepping up previously: the context lists finishes at his expense by Jalin Turner, a knockout loss to Punahele Soriano, and a submission loss to Myktybek Orolbai. Those earlier setbacks contrasted with Medic’s recent run of fast knockouts and the Houston breakthrough.
Promotion, card context and other notes from the night
The UFC returned to Houston after an off week following the promotion’s kickoff of 2026 and its new Paramount era with three straight events. The night’s headliner was former UFC Middleweight champion Sean Strickland versus Anthony Hernandez in the main event. A separate note from the lead-in to the weekend mentioned last event’s result: Michal Oleksiejczuk vs. Marc-Andre Barriault did not end under 1. 5.
Additional background in the material noted a fighter nicknamed “Handz of Steel” who last got his hand raised when he defeated former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos injury TKO at UFC 308 and who, prior to that, came one scorecard short of handing Ian Machado Garry his first loss at UFC 298; unclear in the provided context which fighter that nickname refers to.
MMAmania’s write-up emphasized style contrast: Medic’s wild, finish-first approach against Neal’s one-punch power and tighter pocket fundamentals, and it noted Neal’s past struggles with drug addiction over the past five years and that he is now sober. The matchup was described as not being built for scorecards and as a likely mid-cage firefight where a single clean shot could decide matters.
With the co-main settled by a first-round knockout that earned Uros Medic a ranking, the next confirmed event on the card remains the main event between Sean Strickland and Anthony Hernandez at the Toyota Center on Feb. 21, 2026; recovery and ranking confirmations were expected to follow the night’s official results.
