With four simple words, Dana White immediately outlined his intentions for Joe Pyfer, he was getting a promotional push and there is nothing that anyone can do to stop it.
To Pyfer’s credit he has lived up to his end of the bargain, after breaking his arm in a loss to Dustin Stoltzfus on his first Dana White Tuesday Night Contender Series appearance, “Bodybagz” was victorious on his DWTNCS return and followed that up with three straight finishes in his first three UFC bouts.
The hype train has well and truly left the station.
Looking to derail that train is Swedish standout Jack Hermansson, who goes into this contest with his own point to prove.
A grappling specialist whose ground and pound is just as dangerous as his submissions, “The Joker” has been in the upper echelon of middleweight for the past five years, although timely losses to Jared Cannonier and Sean Strickland in particular have stalled his momentum.
Hermansson’s last fight was a brutal loss to Roman Dolidze. The Georgian took his back and hammered him with punches, all whilst trapping the right leg of Hermansson in a calf slicer, making his resistance futile and forcing the referee to halt the contest in the second round.
Despite Pyfer’s grappling not being on the same level of Dolidze, he is no joke on the ground either, he dominated Abdul Razak Alhassan in his last bout using his high-octane takedowns to punctuate his silky striking.
Pre-fight confidence will be high within the Pyfer camp, his impressive performances and five fight undefeated streak justify it, but you can never rule out someone as tricky as Jack Hermansson, if you give him any sort of opportunity he will latch onto a submission and end your night in an instant.
UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs Pyfer takes place live on ESPN from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas Nevada, Sunday 11th February at 01:00am GMT.