Joseph Pyfer Plans on Catching ‘Reckless’ Jack Hermansson Inside the Distance

Joseph Pyfer foresees a changing of the guard in his upcoming clash with Jack Hermansson.

Rising middleweight prospect Pyfer (12-2) is brimming with confidence going into the first main event assignment of his UFC career against promotional veteran Hermansson (23-8) on Feb. 10. Pyfer, who broke his arm during a Dana White's Contender Series appearance in 2020, claims that most of his confidence stems from staying injury-free. “Bodybagz” recently said on The MMA Hour:

“A lot of my issues are injuries man. F***ing since 24 years old I’ve just been injury prone. And sometimes things get to my head or they affect my training and preparation. It doesn’t stop me, I’ll just bite through the pain sometimes but it’s like man, at a certain point I’m gonna hurt myself again real bad. So you know, I’ve been trying to take care of my body, take care of my health.”

That aside, Pyfer also doesn’t think his upcoming opponent is great in any particular aspect of the sport. While Pyfer is prepared for a five-rounder in acknowledgement of Hermansson’s grit and cardio, he believes he can finish the fight by punishing “The Joker” for a defensive lapse. The 27-year-old added:

“I would say against Jack, I don’t think his boxing is all that good. I think he’s a tough guy, he’s got grit, he’s got grit more than anything. He’s kind of awkward, kind of throws sloppy ass combinations. You know I don’t think he does anything great but he’s a tough guy everywhere. And you get caught trailing behind him, he just pulls away, he’s got good cardio. So I think my biggest fight for this is gonna be understanding that I gotta be prepared for 25 minutes. I don’t think it’s gonna go 25 minutes. I think I’m too powerful, I’m too fast. I think that’s what excites me about it. I think I can catch him inside of his recklessness.”

Pyfer is has finished all three of his UFC fights so far and is coming off a submission win over Abdul Razak Alhassan last month. Meanwhile, Hermansson has alternated wins and losses since 2019, with his most recent appearance coming last December, when he suffered a TKO at the hands of Roman Dolidze.

UFC Fight Night “Hermansson vs. Pyfer” is scheduled to take place on Feb. 10 at the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. While the card has yet to be finalized, confirmed bouts include the Hermansson-Pyfer middleweight headliner, another high-stakes middleweight clash between Gregory Rodrigues and Brad Tavares, and a matchup between strawweight strikers Konklak “Loma Lookboonmee” Suphisara and Bruna Brasil.