Jack Hermansson endured an ominously slow start, weathered the storm and showed his main event mettle in the latter stages to outwork Joe Pyfer over 25 minutes, in an invaluable learning experience for the powerful 27-year-old – who couldn’t build on a purposeful start and was subsequently punished.
Hermansson sends Pyfer back pondering what’s next
- “People underestimate my boxing skills because of some less-than-good performances but I believe in myself. Got hit more in the beginning than I should have, but got the job done,” Hermansson says post-fight
- Hermansson wants two more fights in 2024, hopeful MMA will continue growing in Norway and wants another Sweden showdown before calling out Nassourdine Imavov [6] after his win vs. Roman Dolidze
- Pyfer says calf kicks were key to the tide turning: “I don’t think anything [Hermansson did] surprised me, he won the last three rounds. I told you I want to find my limits, the shift was the calf kick, no excuses, he landed the better ones and I was hesitant to set up attacks because of it.”
If Joe Pyfer is to become the trending superstar he so publicly envisions before long, he’ll now need to go back to the drawing board and learn lessons from a humbling decision defeat in his maiden main event matchup – one where he led.
Ultimately, the New Jersey native unwittingly allowed Jack Hermansson time and space to build confidence after an unconvincing start and that worked against him across all angles – being too easy to counterstrike during their stand-up exchanges, and telegraphing his takedown entries before being wrestled to the canvas himself.
Significant strikes by round
R1: Pyfer 24-16
R2: Pyfer 22-19
R3: Hermansson 37-20
R4: Hermansson 33-22
R5: Hermansson 16-4, 3:01 worth of control time
The timing of that ground success felt like an exclamation mark on Hermansson’s defiant display, such were his early struggles against a powerful and intriguing operator landing more with decreasing levels of success the longer this contest went.
Hermansson will feel vindicated, having defended his top-15 ranking while being willing to get dirty in doing so – 6/6 takedowns stuffed – showing why he backs his boxing, as unpredictable as it can be against volume strikers.
Whether he’ll get what he wants in an Imavov duel next, remains to be seen after the Frenchman’s majority decision win over Roman Dolidze last weekend. Sitting at #8 in the 185lbs rankings, the 28-year-old would naturally target those ahead of him.
Robert Whittaker [3] vs. Paulo Costa [6] takes place at UFC 298 on Feb. 17, before Marvin Vettori [5] vs. Brendan Allen [7] is tentatively set for the first week of April.
Rest of the card’s results
Main card
Featherweight: Dan Ige bt. Andre Fili via R1 KO (punches)
Catchweight (187.5lbs): Ihor Potieria bt. Robert Bryczek via UD3 (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Middleweight: Gregory Rodrigues bt. Brad Tavares via R3 TKO (punches)
Lightweight: Michael Johnson bt. Darrius Flowers via UD3 (30-27 x 3)
Middleweight: Rodolfo Vieira bt. Armen Petrosyan via R1 submission (arm-triangle choke)
Prelims
Welterweight: Carlos Prates bt. Trevin Giles via R2 KO (punch)
Lightweight: Bolaji Oki bt. Timothy Cuamba via split decision (28-29, 29-28 x 2)
Women’s Strawweight: Loma Lookboonmee bt. Bruna Brasil via UD3 (29-28 x 3)
Light-heavyweight: Marcin Prachnio bt. Devin Clark via UD3 (30-27 x 3)
Welterweight: Max Griffin bt. Jeremiah Wells via split dec (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Light-heavy: Bogdan Guskov bt. Zac Pauga via R1 KO (punches)
Feather: Hyder Amil bt. Fernie Garcia via R2 TKO (punches)
Bantamweight: Daniel Marcos vs. Aori Qileng ended a no contest (accidental R2 groin kick saw Qileng unable to continue)
Picture source: Getty Images
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