Athletes
Jack Hermansson Is No Easy Out
Scandinavian Veteran Eyes Return To Win Column, Title Contention By Turning Back Joe Pyfer On Saturday
If Jack Hermansson ever wanted to consider a nickname change, the Swedish-Norwegian veteran should consider switching from “The Joker” to “The Road Warrior,” given how frequently he fights abroad and how seldom he’s been able to compete in front of a partisan crowd.
“I only fought in Sweden once, but that was definitely a highlight of my career; it was amazing feeling to have a proper home crowd,” began Hermansson, who returns to action for the first time since the close of 2022 in a main event pairing opposite Joe Pyfer this weekend at the UFC APEX. “Imagine that: I have 30 fights and I’ve only had that once.
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“It’s something totally different to be at home. I feel like I can perform even when the crowd is against me, but when the crowd is on your side, you’re more willing to open up and embrace the experience, take it in. I think it’s a much greater, much more exciting feeling to fight at home and absorb everything around you because it’s positive vibes.
“Fun fact: I have never lost a fight in Europe, ever,” he added with a chuckle. “It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s because of (home supporters), but there you go.”
Jack Hermansson | Hardworking & Homegrown
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Jack Hermansson | Hardworking & Homegrown
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When I ask if the information he just dropped was something he specifically tracked, the 35-year-old mentioned he had just been speaking about it with his coach the day before, so it was fresh in his head and amusing to him.
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He told me he’s not superstitious in any way, which is good, because if he were, the fact that he’s headlining again this weekend might not be as welcome an opportunity to him, given that he’s landed on the wrong side of the results the last three times he’s been in this position.
But it was the opportunity to compete in a five-round fight that excited him most when his manager called with news of a fight booking, as Hermansson was forced to withdraw from a contest for the first time in his career last April, and was itching for the chance to get back in the Octagon and do what he loves.
“I have a back injury, and it’s a more chronic injury,” began Hermansson, explaining the issue that not only scuttled his scheduled bout with Brendan Allen, but kept him on the sidelines for the bulk of the year. “It’s called modic changes — you have a thousand small, micro cracks in your spine that leak out fluid and makes your back irritated and painful, especially when you’re pushing hard and training.
“Obviously, training hard for the Brendan Allen fight, I started to feel it and I thought I could push through, but it got so bad that I wasn’t able to train, and I knew, ‘This might have to be the first time I ever withdraw from a fight.’ It sucked, and after that, we took a long time to get my back better. I was asking the UFC in September for a fight, but a lot of fighters were booked up, and then I was able to schedule this one.
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“I didn’t think too much about it because I was notified that it was gonna be a main event, as well, and that was kind of what was exciting about the fight for me; it didn’t matter that it was an up-and-comer,” he added when asked about being paired with Pyfer, the ascending Dana White’s Contender Series graduate he’ll face off with on Saturday. “I accepted the fight and I had him fresh in mind because I watched his fight with Abdul Razak Alhassan, so I knew who he was.
“But yeah — I accepted the fight and then I started to study Joe Pyfer.”
The recent tape looks good, as the Philadelphia-based prospect has registered three straight stoppage victories since graduating to the UFC roster, most recently the submission win over Alhassan that Hermansson already referenced.
He’s big, strong, and athletic, and fights with a different kind of ferocity than many of his contemporaries, but he’s also only 14 fights into his pro career and stepping into the Octagon opposite a ranked opponent for the first time.
It’s the kind of matchup that every hopeful has to navigate at least once in their careers — the big litmus test that signals to everyone that you’re “the genuine article” — and the Scandinavian veteran remembers the two bouts that fit that description for him.
“David Branch was ranked when I fought him, so that was a big fight for me,” Hermansson said, pointing to his March 2019 pairing with the former PFL two-weight champ as one of his two “prove it” performances in the UFC. “After that quick finish, I got the chance to fight Jacare (Souza), and he was Top 5 at the time; I think he was ranked No. 4.”
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Having dispatched Branch in 49 seconds, “The Joker” turned right around less than a month later and ventured to Sunrise, Florida for his first main event assignment in the UFC, out-working Souza over five rounds to register his fourth straight victory and catapult himself into contention in the middleweight division.
He’s been there ever since.
“I knew that was my moment to shine, shock everybody and show that I belong up here,” he said. “I took the fight on two weeks’ notice or something like that and won, so both of those fights were big moments for me where I showed everybody I belonged at the top.”
This weekend, he’s positioned in the Branch or Souza role — the established name with noted credentials, facing off with the emerging talent with an unknown ceiling — but after a little over a year without making the walk to the Octagon and coming off a loss, Hermansson is focused on other things this weekend.
“I just want to be able to push it as far as I can,” he said when asked about his goals and focus as a veteran in the sport coming off an extended stay on the sidelines. “I really enjoy this lifestyle and I love the sport of MMA, and I still feel like I have more to bring to the sport. Obviously, I have a dream, as many other fighters, of winning the UFC title.
“With the ups and downs that I’ve had recently, I kind of shoved that a little to the side and am just focusing on the next fight. If I can come back with a win streak, I’m definitely keeping my eyes on that dream again. Right now, I’m just taking it one fight at a time, but I still have great ambitions and I feel like I still have a lot to do in the sport.
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“Throughout your career, you’re in different stages, and I feel like I’ve been up there, very, very close a couple times to the absolute top of the division. When you lose a fight, you just need to get back in there, and the way to do it is to take another fight, focus on that, and win, and then you can set yourself a new goal.”
And so, while he understands that everyone is going to want to talk about being the veteran half of this “prospect versus veteran” pairing to close out Saturday’s show, Hermansson would much rather turn this weekend’s main event into the moment where he gets back into the win column and reminds folks that he’s still very much in the thick of the chase in the middleweight division.
“I just need to show everybody that it’s not that easy,” he said calmly. “I’m one of the best in the division, and it’s not gonna be easy for him to go in there with me.”
UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs Pyfer took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 10, 2024. See the Final Main Card & Prelim Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
