NEW DELHI: With a height of 6 feet 1 inch,
MMA star
Jack Hermansson possesses a versatile skill set that includes astonishing striking and grappling abilities, an art he learned from his
wrestling
days. A wrestler-turned-MMA fighter Hermansson from Norway, who made his professional
MMA
debut in 2010, has featured in 31 fights so far in his career and won 23 of those. He has won 11 fights by knockout.
With a background in wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Hermansson, nicknamed "The Joker," has earned a reputation for his aggressive fighting approach and dynamic performances.
TimesofIndia.com caught up with Hermansson and spoke about his MMA journey, upcoming fight and much more...
What has been your journey from being a Greco-Roman wrestler to an MMA star?
Well, it's been quite a long journey starting with wrestling as a kid, finding MMA in my teens, and then pursuing my dream to become an MMA fighter. It has been an amazing journey and now I'm living the dream. Well, I tried a few different gyms out, and after a while, I started to train with Frontline Academy, which is also my gym to this day. In between, I trained with Team Hellboy, which is a very famous
MMA fighter
, Joachim Hansen, who is one of the Norwegian pioneers, he was a big star back in the day. So I was very fortunate to train under him, and he passed some knowledge on to me. So I was very lucky there, and since then, we've been creating our own team, and it's been very successful.
You could represent your country in the Olympics. Do you regret being an Olympian or Olympic medalist?
No, definitely not. I was never at the same level in wrestling as I became in MMA. I actually doubt that I could have made the Olympics in wrestling, unfortunately.
How was the support from your family?
In the beginning, my mom was never very fond of martial arts when I was younger, but it has grown on her, and now she's very interested and likes to follow my journey. So that's fun, and my siblings have always supported me a lot, which has always been good.
How do you prepare yourself ahead of a fight?
I do treat every fight the same, and I do enjoy being headlining a card - it shows that the UFC thinks highly of me. I've been granted many main events, so I'm very happy that they are choosing to put me in that great position.
Can you tell us something about this upcoming fight?
Joe Pyfer is a great opponent, he's a tough opponent, a hard puncher, and a good wrestler. So yes, it makes for a tough fight. But I'm also very good, and I'm also a very hard opponent for him. So I think that makes for an exciting fight, and I'm looking forward to defending my place in the rankings and stepping up from there.
I think it's going to be a tough, gruelling fight. I am going to push it into the later rounds, and that's where my cardio and my will will determine who will be the winner of the fight, and that's going to be me.
Your most memorable fights so far?
There are many of them, but my fight against Jacare Souza was one of my greatest performances. Another memorable fight was my fight with Thales Leites where I injured myself severely in the first round but managed to fight through and come out on top and finish it in the third round - that was also a very memorable fight for me.
On the new series in UFC called Road to UFC...
It has been extremely hard for me because we cannot fight at home. MMA is still illegal in Norway to this day, which means that I didn't have an opportunity to fight on any home stage. The only thing you can do is to go out and train with the best, and that's what I did. I went to the US, I went to Brazil, and I trained with the best in the world. So my advice would be to find the best team and the best coaches and train with them. That's how you're going to make it.
Watch UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Pyfer on 11th February 2024 from 5:30 AM IST onwards LIVE on Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 3 SD & HD (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 SD & HD (Tamil & Telugu).
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