Subscribe
Follow Us
Sean Strickland has famously come out and told media he hopes to one day ‘kill' someone in the octagon. His upcoming opponent, Jack Hermansson was recently asked for his reaction ahead of UFC Vegas 47.
Jack Hermansson answered very differently than some might imagine. The UFC middleweight actually thinks statements like that hurt the sport and can stop it from being legalized in certain places.
“Our sport has always been controversial in the sense of that we actually are fighting with as few rules as we can have and still be safe,” Hermansson told MMA Fighting. “In Norway where I live, MMA is still illegal, which means that we can’t be fighting on our home turf and we are fighting for it to be legal.
“When people in this sport are saying those kinds of things, it’s not actually helping our cause. I definitely could wish that people were a little bit more careful with that kind of stuff. As long as I represent the sport in a good way, hopefully it will be fine.”
Sean Strickland saying he wants to kill people during his UFC fights makes the sport seem barbaric and dangerous. Jack Hermansson has to make sure people in Norway don't think everyone is like Strickland.
“It doesn’t play in our favor,” Hermansson said. “We just have to keep reminding people that most people are not like Sean. Hopefully, it’s just a thing that he puts into his character. Let’s hope so.”
Jack Hermansson doesn't take the talk of killing someone personally heading into UFC Vegas 47. It's all a part of the game.
“What can you say?” Hermansson said. “You can shake your head and laugh about it but I haven’t felt any agony towards me or anything. I anticipate that he’s going to be crazy, maybe say some crazy things. But he’s not necessarily disrespectful, he’s just saying crazy stuff. It isn’t necessarily trash talk.
“I’m ready for whatever, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he has some controversial lines during the build-up to the fight.”
