‘I’m all about sportsmanship’ – Hermansson sorry for post fight confrontation

The ‘Joker’ wants to clear the air after an ugly post-fight exchange with his opponent Chris Curtis at UFC London.

UFC London was a card plagued by problems. An injury in the main event, a number of slow, grinding fights, and little in the way of finishes or moments of exciting action. While the main card built some solid momentum—behind stoppage wins for Molly McCann, Nikita Krylov, and Paddy Pimblett—all that came to a halt once again in the co-main, where Jack Hermansson and Chris Curtis fought to a somewhat tepid decision.

Curtis, who spent much of the fight struggling to cut off the cage or deal with Hermansson’s range kicking game, was visibly frustrated by the final bell and showed it with a pair of middle fingers and some unkind words for his victorious opponent. Not to be outdone, Hermansson was quick to throw a few words back Curtis’ way. Ultimately the two men had to be separated until the decision could be read.

Curtis even had a little animosity left over on his way out of the arena.

Time heals all wounds, however, and in the aftermath, Hermansson has been quick to try and take the edge off the incident—offering an apology to Curtis for his part of the conflict during a post-fight media scrum backstage.

“I can’t remember [what was said] but he was, like, taunting me, then something slipped from my tongue,” Hermansson explained (transcript via MMA Fighting). “I’m a little bit disappointed with myself that I got caught up in that because I’m all about sportsmanship. I want the sport to be clean and after a fight we should be good friends. So I really apologize to Chris Curtis for that…

“I haven’t [spoken to him yet], unfortunately. I would love to square up and again, I apologize so much for my bad behavior.”

Curtis has been forthright about making up with Hermansson as well, telling fans on Twitter that he would try to catch up with the ‘Joker’ in the near future. “I was out of pocket,” the ‘Action Man’ said on social media, “and it takes a few to calm down once I’m worked up.”

Fortunately, at the end of the night, it looks like they managed to find one another and patch things up.