Jack Hermansson targets Nassourdine Imavov with win over Joe Pyfer at UFC Fight Night 236

Jack Hermansson already has his sights set on another middleweight if he can get past Joe Pyfer.

Hermansson (23-8 MMA, 10-6 UFC) meets rising contender Pyfer (12-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 236 main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas (ESPN+).

“The Joker” returns from a 14-month layoff. He most recently was seen in action in a second-round TKO loss against Roman Dolidze in December 2022. Dolidze is coming off a decision loss to Nassourdine Imavov this past Saturday at UFC Fight Night 235 – an opponent Hermansson is eyeing if he beats Pyfer.

“This fight is the most important thing on my mind at the moment, and I don’t have any big plans forward,” Hermansson said at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 236 media day. “But I would like to stay active, get a few more fights in, and if I beat Joe, I would love to be able to climb up again. I think that after Imavov’s fight last weekend, that might be a good opponent if I beat Joe.”

Imavov’s win over Dolidze was dominant, but had plenty of lulls. Despite finding a lot of success on the feet, Imavov struggled to finish the gutsy Dolidze.

“It wasn’t the prettiest fight that I’ve seen, but I like different styles of fights,” Hermansson said. “That was one of those which was just gritty. You could see that they were tired, and it was about who wants the most almost. I enjoyed that fight and it was kind of exciting even though it wasn’t very beautiful to watch.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 236.