EXCLUSIVE | Jack Hermansson Open To Future Fight With Compatriot Khamzat Chimaev
Jack Hermansson says there’s a definite chance that he will square off against his compatriot, Khamzat Chimaev, inside the UFC Octagon down the line.
Hermansson is currently mounting a middleweight title charge and will look to take one step closer to 185lb gold when he takes on Sean Strickland at UFC Vegas 47 on February 5.
‘The Joker’ only fought once during 2021 and in an effort to stay busy during his downtime, took on Chimaev in a grappling match, suffering a dominant defeat at the hands of the UFC’s newest star.
After grappling and training with ‘The Wolf’, Hermansson has a better understanding than most about just how good Chimaev actually is.
“He has two things that are very special about him, or three actually,” Jack Hermansson said during a recent interview with LowKickMMA. “One, he is an extremely good wrestler. Two, he is ridiculously strong for a welterweight, just extremely strong. He looks tall and lanky but (he is) very, very, very strong. Three, I’ve been training with him as well so, I know he has a big punch. He has a lot of power in punches as well. So, yeah, he could definitely be a light-heavyweight when it comes to strength and punching power.”
Hermansson is keen to avenge his grappling loss to Chimaev and is hoping the two can run it back in a submission wrestling-style match-up in the near future.
“For right now, I would love to have a rematch in the grappling, in submission wrestling. I feel like that’s my area, you know. He’s a freestyle wrestler and I see myself as grappling, submission wrestling – that’s my best skill. So, I would love to have a rematch in that.
The 33-year-old understands that a fight with his fellow Swede is “definitely” on the cards down the line but for now Hermansson is intent on chasing the middleweight title while Chimaev is pursuing gold at welterweight.
“When it comes to MMA, I definitely think there’s a possibility that we’re gonna fight but I don’t think that is a fight to do at the moment,” Hermansson said. “It has to be in the right timeline. As you mentioned, he’s hunting the gold in welterweight, I’m hunting the gold at middleweight. I’m not fighting in both weight classes, he does. If he is on his way up in my weight class and we are getting closer to each other, definitely that is a fight we could do. Right now, I don’t see that fight happening in the closest time but it’s possible in the future.”
