Tomorrow night in the main event of UFC Vegas 86 from The APEX, we are going to see a battle between two top middleweight contenders. 11th ranked Jack Hermansson (23-8) will look to defend his spot in the rankings as he takes on surging contender Joe Pyfer (12-2).
Starting with Jack Hermansson, this is a big spot for him to defend his current spot within the division. A few years ago, Hermansson looked like a title challenger. He was 20-4 on a four-fight win streak and the UFC gave him a main event in his home country of Sweden. Unfortunately for him, he ran into Jared Cannonier and was stopped in the second round.
Starting with that fight, Hermansson is just 3-4 in his last seven fights. Granted, his losses have come against top contenders like Roman Dolidze, Marvin Vettori, Cannonier, and former champ Sean Strickland. He’s coming off a loss to Dolidze and really needs to pickup a win tomorrow night.
That won’t be easy as he’s taking on the very dangerous Joe Pyfer. Joe Pyfer got a shot on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020 but suffered an injury TKO loss. After bouncing back strong on the regional scene with a TKO win, White gave him another shot and he got a second round knockout to earn a UFC contract.
Since debuting with the promotion, he’s gone 3-0 with three finishes. His last two wins were against tough contenders Gerald Meerschaert and Abdul Razak Alhassan. He’s knocking on the door of the rankings and tomorrow night is his chance to jump straight towards the top ten.
UFC Vegas 87 Prediction
In Joe Pyfer’s last bout, we really saw him show off how good his takedowns are. We know how powerful his hands are, but showing off his wrestling and grappling opened some eyes amongst fans. Granted, anyone who knows about Joe Pyfer knows he’s a great grappler as well.
Jack Hermansson needs to get the fight to the ground. However, he only has a 29% takedown rate and I really don’t think he has the wrestling skills to get Pyfer to the ground. He might try to pull guard in this type of fight and turn it into a grappling match. On the feet, Hermansson can hold his own, but I think he’ll ultimately be a sitting duck for Pyfer.
I just don’t like this fight for Hermansson. I can’t see him getting Pyfer down and he can’t stand with him. His only hope would be catching Pyfer being overzealous and catching him in a submission. Other than that, UFC Vegas 87 is Pyfer’s fight to lose and I think he gets another finish.
Prediction: Joe Pyfer by TKO – Round 1