This past Saturday at UFC Vegas 27, Jack Hermansson (22-6) took on Edmen Shahbazyan (11-2) to kick off the main card. Hermansson was coming off of a December loss to Marvin Vettori.
Had Hermansson won that fight, he might’ve been in the UFC title conversation. However, Vettori got the win and Vettori is fighting for the title at UFC 263. Hermansson took a step back to take on the top prospect Edmen Shahbazyan.
In this matchup, it was all going to come down to where the fight took place. On the feet, you would think that the young Shahbazyan would have the advantage. On the ground is where Hermansson expected to dominate.
In the first round at UFC Vegas 27, Shahbazyan dominated with his standup. It was a great opening round for the prospect, but you could tell that he would be in some trouble should Hermansson get this fight down.
Over the next two rounds, Hermansson was able to do just that. Hermansson was able to get Shahbazyan down and completely dominated the final two rounds at UFC Vegas 27. Ultimately, Hermansson walked away with a unanimous decision victory.
What’s next after UFC Vegas 27?
This was a really good win for Hermansson to get him back on track. Overall, Hermansson is 6-2 in his last eight UFC appearances. However, the two losses came when he was knocking on the door of a title shot.
Hermansson appears to be a very good middleweight, but when he gets to the top of the division, that’s when he falters. However, with his skill set and being ranked sixth, he needs a good opponent with a good name.
Most of the middleweight division is booked, but there is one opponent that comes to mind for me. I think a perfect matchup would be pairing Hermansson against former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold (16-5).
Rockhold has been trying to get a fight booked at 185, but there hasn’t been any takers. The former champion wants a top guy to get right back in the mix and Hermansson fits the bill. It would be a big fight for both men and it honestly makes a lot of sense.