Sean Strickland will look to extend his hot streak in the UFC when he faces Jack Hermansson in the middleweight main event of a Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on the morning of Sunday 6 February 2022.
Strickland (24-3) has racked up five straight wins, with his last trip to the Octagon bringing a unanimous decision victory over Uriah Hall in July last year. The 30-year-old American is looking to rise up from his current No 7 ranking, and has laid on the pre-fight trash talk good and thick.
“I’m a way better grappler than Jack is,” Strickland explained. “I think it’s going to be a kickboxing match. I think we’re going to stand and bang.
“Obviously it’s a fight, anything happens, but like the fourth round I want to f***ing take his soul. I want to take everything from him. I want to watch him bleed. I want to watch him hurt. The fourth round I really just want to f***ing put it on him.”
Hermansson (22-6) is coming into the fight off a victory – he defeated Edmen Shahbazyan via unanimous decision in May of last year – but he has suffered two defeats from his last four outings.
The 33-year-old Norwegian is ranked No 6 and cannot afford a defeat in this clash if he is to build back to a point where he can be considered a contender for the middleweight championship.
“If I have a great win I should be able to get a fight with one of the top guys in the division and to get back into that title contention discussion,” Hermansson said.
The rest of the main card features Punahele Soriano v Nick Maximov in one of three further middleweight bouts (the others being Sam Alvey v Phillip Hawes and Tresan Gore v Bryan Battle), Shavkat Rakhmonov v Carlston Harris in the welterweight division, and a featherweight starter between Julian Erosa and Steven Peterson.
UFC Fight Night: Hermansson v Strickland – Main card
- Main event: Middleweight: Jack Hermansson v Sean Strickland
- Middleweight: Punahele Soriano v Nick Maximov
- Welterweight: Shavkat Rakhmonov v Carlston Harris
- Middleweight: Sam Alvey v Phillip Hawes
- Middleweight: Tresan Gore v Bryan Battle
- Featherweight: Julian Erosa v Steven Peterson