The
Ultimate Fighting Championship is slowly but surely building a
solid card for International Fight Week.
A pair of formerly ranked middleweights will slug it out over three
rounds at UFC
317, according to Brazilian outlet Ag. Fight on
Wednesday. Jack
Hermansson (24-8) will look to regain a number next to his
name, and he will have to get past Gregory
Rodrigues (16-6) to get there. The Swede’s management team of
Chosen Advisory Group confirmed
the battle on social media on Thursday. The two will toe the line
in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on June 28, placed in a lineup
that is yet to have a main event announced.
Hermansson will be making his return to the Octagon after over 16
months on the shelf, with no fight booked in that span of time. The
Swedish fighter who trains out of Norway has alternated wins and
losses across his last nine outings. During that erratic stretch,
“The Joker” notched wins over names like Kelvin
Gastelum and Ronaldo
Souza while coming up short to foes like Sean
Strickland and Jared
Cannonier.
The UFC tenure for “Robocop” Rodrigues has been a violent to date,
with seven of his 10 appearances ending by knockout, win or lose.
Most recently, the Brazilian saw a three-fight win streak fall to
pieces when former title challenger Cannonier drummed him out with
punches in the fourth round—that being the first time Rodrigues had
ever fought beyond three rounds. Before then, Rodrigues knocked out
Denis
Tiuliulin and Brad
Tavares while slowing the hype train of Christian
Leroy Duncan by winning a decision over him.