"Should have prepped for a track meet instead" - Chris Curtis reacts to Jack Hermansson's movement-heavy approach at UFC London
Chris Curtis has taken a shot at Jack Hermansson after their three-round middleweight bout that transpired at tonight’s UFC London event. The fight witnessed Hermansson utilize a movement-heavy approach to steer clear of Curtis’ power.
Certain sections of the MMA community have criticized ‘The Joker’ for his approach. He resisted being drawn into a firefight that would have likely made for a more entertaining, albeit riskier, fight.
Regardless, Hermansson’s safe strategy paid off. He comfortably outworked Curtis and secured a clear-cut unanimous decision win with scores of 29-28, 29-28, and 30-27.
Curtis flipped Hermansson off towards the end of their fight. ‘The Joker’ fired back by cussing at Curtis. Thankfully, the referee intervened and prevented the fighters from coming to blows after their bout was officially over.
Nevertheless, Curtis seemingly isn’t done with the Swedish-born Norwegian fighter. Taking to Twitter, ‘The Action Man’ suggested that Hermansson ran from him during their fight. Curtis’ tweet read as follows:
“What a f**king waste of everyone's time. Sorry London I tried. Should have preped for a track meet instead.”
Curtis later appeared to have calmed down and admitted that he was a bit emotional. He added that he’ll talk to Hermansson, also highlighting that he could’ve put on a better performance against ‘The Joker.’
Jack Hermansson apologizes to Chris Curtis, outlines plan for next fight
During his post-fight octagon interview with MMA legend Michael Bisping, Jack Hermansson acknowledged the fact that he’d used profanity after being flipped a double bird by Curtis in the final part of their fight. ‘The Joker’ apologized for the same and said:
“He was taunting me, and I had a lot of adrenaline. So, a frog jumped out of my mouth, and I’m sorry for that. I wanna say that I’m sorry to Chris; too much adrenaline. Usually, I’m a nice guy, and I’m sorry about that. And I’m sorry to the fans about the fight. I was supposed to fight Darren Till, but I got Chris on short notice, and I needed to collect the win. Sorry, guys.”
Watch Hermansson’s post-fight interview below:
Furthermore, Jack Hermansson indicated that although his scheduled fight against Darren Till has fallen apart twice already, he’s still willing to fight the Liverpool-native. The grappling savant also emphasized that he’d like to compete on the rumored UFC fight card in Sweden later this year.
Presently, Hermansson holds the No.8-spot in the official UFC middleweight rankings. He’s 3-3 in his last six fights. However, it’s likely that defeating Curtis – who was on an eight-fight win streak – will ensure that ‘The Joker’ gets what he's lobbying for.