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With a surprising heel-hook submission of Kelvin
Gastelum on Saturday night, Jack
Hermansson re-established himself as a person of interest in
the UFC’s middleweight division.
“People don’t know, the heel hook has been part of my game for a
long time,” Hermansson said at the UFC Fight Night 172 post-fight
press conference. “But you don’t see me on bottom too much. That’s
why you haven’t seen the heel hook so much before. Should I end up
there again, you’re going to see another heel hook.”
Hermansson has won five of his last six Octagon appearances, with
his lone setback coming at the hands of Jared
Cannonier this past September. In the aftermath of his most
recent triumph, “The Joker” targeted the winner of this weekend’s
middleweight headliner between Robert
Whittaker and Darren
Till.
“The winner between Robert Whittaker and Darren Till, that’s the
fight to make,” he said. “That’s the only thing that makes sense
right now, so I’m keeping my eyes on that fight next weekend. … I
give a small edge to Whittaker in that fight, but I think it’s
going to be a close fight. Both are great standup fighters, but
Whittaker has been a great champ, so I think he will take it.”
Hermansson also has his eyes on the title fight pitting Israel
Adesanya against Paulo
Henrique Costa, which will reportedly take place at UFC 253 in
September. With one more win, the 32-year-old Sweden resident could
be a serious contender for the belt, and he believes “Borrachinha”
will be the most likely opponent down the road.
“I believe Paulo Costa will be champion when I fight for the
title,” Hermansson said. “He’s going to put some pressure on
Adesanya. Paulo Costa’s pressure is just insane. He’s throwing so
hard with everything he’s got. He can do it for almost all of the
rounds. It’s just incredible the physique and the power that guy
has. I think that’s going to be problematic for Adesanya. But you
don’t know what’s going to happen in this sport. Adesanya is a
great fighter, he’s a standup wizard and it’s going to be an
interesting fight.”