World traveler Jack Hermansson returns to London in the co-main event, where he’ll look across the cage at surging American Chris Curtis, who raised his hand and was tabbed to replace Darren Till when the popular Liverpool native was forced out with a knee injury.
The 34-year-old middleweight, who has fought in 11 countries over his 29 fights, returns to London for the first time since successfully defending his Cage Warriors title in 2016, aiming to get back into the win column and cement his standing in the 185-pound hierarchy. “The Joker” has alternated wins and losses over his last seven outings, including wins over Kelvin Gastelum and Edmen Shahbazyan, and losses to Jared Cannonier and Marvin Vettori, and aims to show he’s on a different level than Curtis in this one.
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Curtis has been one of the best stories in the sport over the last three years, entering this fight on an eight-fight winning streak that includes three straight UFC victories, seven wins since the beginning of 2021, and four victories in the last 12 calendar months. After earning stoppage wins over Phil Hawes and Brendan Allen in his first two Octagon appearances, the 35-year-old “Action Man” fought a patient, tactical fight to dispatch Rodolfo Vieira in June, pushing his record to 29-8 and putting him on the brink of breaking into the Top 15.
With things at the top of the division starting to get a little clearer, this is a perfect chance for either of these men to assert their standing as potential championship threats going forward. Both are savvy veterans with well-rounded skill sets, so no matter how or where this one plays out, we should be in for a treat ahead of the main event.
