Hermansson vs Pyfer Prediction: A Main Event Battle For Top 15
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Vladislav Tchakarov
Jack Hermansson returns after over a year on the sidelines to defend his place in the Top 15 of the Middleweight division. His opponent is one of the most promising prospects on the roster. Here is our Hermansson vs Pyfer prediction.
UFC Fight Night 236: Hermansson vs Pyfer Prediction
Jack Hermansson Preview
“The Joker” Jack Hermansson joined the UFC 8 years ago after he won the championship belt of the English promotion Cage Warriors and his record was 12 wins with 2 losses.
Over the next three years, Jack entered the octagon 10 times, from which he emerged 7 times with his hand raised (5 early victories), only losing three times to Cesar Ferreira, Thiago Santos, and Jared Cannonier.
After the tough knockout from Jared, Jack never found his way back to a winning streak. The simplest explanation is that he was just never good enough to reach the contender status. Even in the confrontations that he won, Jack was extremely unconvincing. Out of 6 bouts, Hermansson won only three victories, losing to Marvin Vettori, Sean Strickland, and Roman Dolidze.
He is the type of fighter who will tear apart any average opposition but struggle against a more formidable fighter. Hermansson prefers to work in a standing position but has shown that he has above-average skills on the ground. He will not be defenseless if the fight ends up on the ground.
Joe Pyfer Prediction
Joe “Bodybagz” Pifer began his career just 6 years ago and performed in local American promotions. Two years later, Joe participated in Dana White's Contender Series, having a record of 7 victories and 1 defeat, but lost due to an elbow injury after a slam from Dustin Stolfus.
He needed more than a year to return to fighting but Joe did not give up trying to get into the roster of the UFC. Two years later, he had his second appearance in DWCS and knocked out Osman Diaz in the second round. This convincing triumph earned him a contract and he wasted no time, making his debut just two months later.
In just a year and a half, Pyfer won three brilliant victories in a row, only once giving his opponent a chance for a break between the first and second rounds.
Pyfer is an unbelievably powerful puncher and won 8 of his 12 wins via KO/TKO. His fights went past the second round only once in his entire career.
In the last fight against Abdul Razak Alhassan, Joe dominated the entire first round (20 against 7 significant strikes) but failed to get a third first-round knockout in a row. Nevertheless, he caught his opponent in an arm-triangle choke in the middle of the second round and proved that he has a much more diverse skillset. Before that, people hardly knew that he had any ground game.
Jack Hermansson vs Joe Pyfer Prediction: No Championship Rounds Here
Jack Hermansson will enter the cage for the first time after a year of inactivity, so it is extremely difficult to judge the physical condition of “The Joker”. However, just by looking at Jack’s recent performances, we can assume that the 35-year-old middleweight has seriously declined over the past few years.
Hermansson has established himself as a strong fighter with a solid punch but he is not the smartest fighter when it comes to in-fight adjustments. To put it mildly, he rarely adapts well after his opponents impose a different kind of game plan. We've seen him get lost on multiple occasions especially if the opponent increases the pace and prefers to work as the 1st number.
This is exactly how Joe Pifer conducts his fights; as a true universal fighter, he feels great on the ground, often using slams to transfer opponents. At the same time, Joe is very dangerous in the stand – he has one of the most powerful punches in the entire division or even in the promotion.
Here is a curious statement: Joe Rogan recently called Pyfer stronger than Ngannou. If you remember, the former heavyweight champion is considered to have the strongest punch in the world. While Pyfer being stronger is unlikely, it still means that as an opponent, you should respect his brute strength. This will also be a huge problem for Hermansson, who was already knocked out three times during his UFC career.
Even with all this information, it is quite difficult to make a confident Hermansson vs Pyfer prediction. We believe that Pyfer will win this match but Hermansson is far more experienced than him. Pyfer has never faced such an opponent in his career.
Another question is whether Joe will be able to continue his streak of wins ahead of schedule. He beat Amendovski and Meerschaert with first-round knockouts and finished Alhassan in the 2nd round. We believe that there is value in the KO/TKO market but we advise against betting huge sums.
We are inclined to believe that the year away from fighting at this age will have an impact on ” The Joker” and Pyfer has an incredible opportunity to make his case that he deserves a spot in the Top 15.
Vlad is a former amateur MMA fighter. After a series of injuries, he found a different way to connect with the sport and its fanbase - through writing. He's been covering everything-UFC for over 5 years on various platforms and has been part of the team at NYFights since early 2022.
