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Jack Hermansson sprained his big toe during training in preparation for his fight with Marvin Vettori ahead of UFC Vegas 16. However, the Swedish-Norwegian UFC middleweight is not afraid of revealing this possible vulnerability to his opponent.
In an interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani ahead of the bout, 'The Joker' Hermansson proved his nickname is apt by warning Vettori (20-4-1) about what would happen if he tried stepping on his injured toe.
"My strength and conditioning coach is so skeptical about that stuff. He said: 'you can never talk about anything like that.' But I am just like, 'yeah, go on, Marvin. Try to step on my toes, try to focus on that, then I am going to punch you in the face,'" Hermansson told Helwani. "I believe that if you are focusing on the injuries of your opponent, then you are making a mistake. You need to see the whole picture all the time. So yeah, go for my toe. It is still really painful. Throw whatever you want, and I am going to find something else to do with you if you try that," Hermansson threatened.
Hermansson (21-5) has recently created a YouTube channel. He uses the platform to post videos about his preparation and training ahead of UFC fights, as well as vlogs, where he displays more of his joking personality.
Marvin Vettori is UFC's third choice to fight Jack Hermansson
The UFC had initially planned a middleweight bout between Jack Hermansson and former UFC welterweight championship challenger Darren Till (18-3-1). This fight had to be cancelled when an undisclosed injury forced Till to withdraw.
Till was then replaced by UFC middleweight Kevin Holland (20-5). Holland was coming from a good run with four wins in his previous five bouts. However, after testing positive for COVID-19 only a week before the fight, Holland was also removed from the night's main event.
As its third choice, the UFC presented Marvin Vettori. The Italian fighter accepted the challenge with little time to prepare and is set to perform against Hermansson at the weekend. Vettori was initially scheduled to face former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza next week at UFC 256. It is expected that Holland will now face Souza instead of Vettori.
Vettori's last fight was back in June when he applied a rear-naked choke over Karl Roberson to win by submission. His last loss was to UFC middleweight titleholder Israel Adesanya, in a closely-contested duel.
