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For someone that likes to remain active and would ideally compete three times a year, making the walk only once is challenging, but it’s also a sign that the 33-year-old is moving in the right direction when it comes to running down his goal of challenging for the middleweight title.
“I definitely like to fight a little more often, but the higher you climb in this game, the fewer available opponents there will be, especially if you already fought some of those,” said Hermansson, who has spent the last three years taking on ranked competition. “I think that’s the challenge in getting the right matchups going.
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“Even after that fight last year, I really wanted somebody ranked above me, but nobody was available, so I’m not going to sit and wait,” added the Swedish-born standout who lives and trains in Oslo, Norway. “So we got something going and we landed on Sean Strickland.”
Saturday night, the ranked middleweights square off in the first main event of the February slate — a battle between Nos. 6 and 7 in the 185-pound weight class just a week before champion Israel Adesanya puts his belt on the line against former titleholder Robert Whittaker.
It’s a dangerous matchup for Hermansson, who secured a unanimous decision win over Edmen Shahbazyan in May, as the 30-year-old Strickland is 4-0 since returning to action following a two-year absence, and sports a 19-0 mark in the middleweight division, while also being stationed one spot below him in the rankings.
“I feel like Sean Strickland has some good wins behind him, he’s on a good winning streak and a lot of people are talking about him,” said Hermansson, beginning his assessment of the man he’ll share the cage with this weekend. “He’s a good opponent. He’s very opportunistic, has good scrambles, and he’s tough as well. I think he’s a tough fight for anybody.