Not so fast, Chris Weidman. It turns out Jack Hermansson really just isn’t that into you. Following a recent appearance from Hermansson on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show, Chris Weidman broadcasted that Hermansson expressed an interest in fighting him and was quick to jump on that potential matchup:
“I Just heard “The Joker” Hermansson mention on @arielhelwani show he would want to fight me next. Would love that fight,” Weidmann tweeted. Jack Hermansson would later come forward to clarify that while Chris Weidman’s name was mentioned, Weidman is guilty of some selective listening:
“It’s easy to pick those words out of me, but if you listen closely, no, he’s not the first pick,” Hermansson said in a recent appearance on MMA Tonight . “It’s just one of the guys that’s mentioned. If I could pick, I would pick the champion. If I can’t pick him, I want Yoel Romero. If I can’t pick him, I want Gastelum. Then, we’ll start to talk about Chris Weidman. I have a lot of guys I would prefer to fight before him.”
These other names being ahead of Weidman does not mean Jack Hermansson is disinterested in facing Weidman, though. Indeed Hermansson has respect for the former middleweight champion and appreciates that a potential scrap between the two would be a fun fight. However, with Hermansson now being ahead of Weidman in the rankings and with the two currently being on two completely different trajectories, it would not make any sense for Weidman to be his first choice, even if it would make all the sense in the world for Hermansson to be Weidman’s:
“He’s a former champion,” Hermansson continued. “He’s pretty highly ranked. But Jacare beat him, and he has some mixed success to say the least in his last five fights. So he’s not the first pick, but he would be an interesting matchup.”
Whom would you like to see Jack Hermansson fight next?
