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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight bruiser, Jack Hermansson, quietly slid into the Top 5 at 185 pounds with his unanimous decision win over Ronaldo Souza earlier this year in Ft. Lauderdale, in what amounts to his fourth-straight win after going down in flames against Thiago Santos back in late 2017.
That’s the kind of ranking that should generate “The Joker” a similarly-ranked opponent; however, No. 3-ranked Kelvin Gastelum was more interested in throwing hands with fellow welterweight import, Darren Till, leaving the promotion with very few options.
Fortunately for all parties involved, No. 9-ranked Jared Cannonier answered the call and Hermansson believes a victory over “Killa Gorilla” will be enough to propel him into a middleweight title fight. If not, No. 2-ranked Paulo Costa would make a suitable Plan B.
“I feel like if I win this fight, it’s probably a fight against Paulo Costa or waiting that makes the most sense,” Hermansson told MMA Junkie. “Gastelum is going to fight Till. If he wins, then that’s a fight that I could take. But there’s a certain limit of fights that make sense right now, so preferably I’d like to fight Costa. If he’s going to fight for the title, then I do not mind waiting a little bit because I feel like I should be next in line for the title shot.”
Costa is expected to fight the winner of Robert Whittaker vs. Israel Adesanya, who collide in the UFC 243 pay-per-view (PPV) main event next month in Melbourne. But that fight could end in a draw, be ruled a “No Contest,” or suffer from some other unforeseen incident, putting “The Eraser” back in the desk drawer until further notice.
None of this really matters unless Hermansson wins — and wins convincingly — when he goes up against Cannonier in the UFC Fight Night 160 five-round headliner on Sat. night (Sept. 28, 2019) on ESPN+ from inside Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark.
For much more on that upcoming fight click here.