Jack Hermansson enters his fight at UFC 317 coming off one of the longer layoffs in his career. It will have been roughly 16-months since the last time he stepped in there – largely due to some injuries and bumps in the road. So when the UFC came calling with the name Gregory Rodrigues, who had just fought in a headlining bout, Hermansson wasn’t upset about it.
“I had this fight with Cannonier fresh in my mind. So I thought that that could be a good fight for me coming back after such a long layoff,” Hermansson said. “So pretty happy with the fight, even though I was obviously hoping for a ranked opponent. I was in the rankings after my last fight. I probably got pulled due to inactivity.”
However, it’s not just the opponent that he thinks will help get him back into the rankings. He know that having the live crowd and extra eyes on his bout certainly won’t hurt either.
“It’s like such a different thing [fighting with a crowd]. The whole experience is so much more enjoyable fighting in a big arena and the International Fight Week – it’s going to be a great card,” he said. “Big names on the top there, Oliveira/Topuria. I think that was the sweet thing about this fight, to be able to be in a great card like that.”
Of course, in order to capitalize on the name and the location, he has to get it done in the cage. The stylistic matchup of the fight is one that he feels favors him and should lead to a result that will turn heads.
“He comes forward, he punches hard, especially the injuries early in the fight. While I’m a little bit more of the opposite maybe, you know, I move more, I have higher volume, I get stronger as the fight goes. So it’s kind of exciting in that way,” Hermansson explained. “I think it’s gonna end with me, TKO, in the last round.”
You can see Hermansson getting back in there as part of the UFC 317 prelims on ESPN+. That portion of the card begins at 6:30pm EST and airs on ESPN+.
