Hermansson Disappointed In UFC Scaredy Cats

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight contender Jack Hermansson was expected to battle Darren Till at the upcoming UFC Vegas 16 mixed martial arts (MMA) event next month in Las Vegas, but “The Gorilla” was injured and forced to withdraw.

Stepping in for Till on relatively short notice will be 185-pound up-and-comer Kevin Holland, who is certainly worthy of the call after winning four straight with three nasty finishes, but it looks like “Trailblazer” had a little help from his middleweight cohorts.

“When we got the news, we asked the UFC for a replacement fight,” Hermansson told his Instagram followers. “So they started asking people above me in the rankings, below me in the rankings and at least five guys turned the fight down. But one guy was willing to fight and that was Kevin Holland. If you follow the sport you know he is a good up and comer. He’s on a great win streak right now. So I hope that this makes for an exciting fight.”

Hermansson (21-5) is currently ranked No. 4 in the division and has now captured five of his last six, including last July’s first-round submission over Kelvin Gastelum, though he may be faced with a no-win situation against the 20-5 Holland this December.

That’s because “Trailblazer” is unranked at 185 pounds, so a win for “The Joker” does nothing to improve his stock. A loss, however, and Hermansson can probably say goodbye to a middleweight title shot for the foreseeable future.