The UFC 317 prelims ended with a nasty knockout.
Two titles are on the line at this year’s International Fight Week. Former champions Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira headline UFC 317 in a fight for the vacant lightweight title.
Champion Alexandre Pantoja is set to defend his title for a fourth time when he meets Kai Kara-France in the co-main event.
The UFC 317 undercard didn’t disappoint, featuring both knockouts and submissions.
The most deafening knockout of the night took place right before the pay-per-view portion.
- READ MORE: ‘Correct call’… Joe Rogan shuts down early stoppage talk after UFC 317 star suffers 26-second KO
Daniel Cormier says referee should have saved Jack Hermansson from final blow
Middleweight veterans Jack Hermansson and Gregory Rodrigues had a competitive fight in the prelim headliner.
The fight didn’t make it out of the first round as a bloody Rodrigues caught Hermansson with a brutal left hook that sat him down.
Hermansson immediately went unconscious and Rodrigues landed an additional hammer-fist on his grounded opponent two seconds later, before referee Herb Dean stopped the contest.
“That last hammer-fist was certainly unnecessary,” UFC commentator Joe Rogan said of Rodrigues’ KO.
“Why didn’t the ref jump in there and stop that? He’s laying there out,” Daniel Cormier said on the UFC 317 broadcast.
“He should not have allowed him to take that last punch.”
“He was done. He’s laying down,” Cormier said of Hermansson.
“It’s not like he hit him right away. He literally walked up to him and throws. He thought the fight was going to be stopped.
“He did try to stop it from behind,” Cormier said of the referee Herb Dean, who was out of range.
Hermansson was unconscious for several minutes and the UFC broadcast confirmed he was ‘stable’ 30 minutes later.
Jack Hermansson hadn’t fought in 16 months
A former top-15 contender, we haven’t seen Jack Hermansson since Feb. 2024.
Hermansson’s last fight was a clear five-round decision over powerful prospect Joe Pyfer at UFC Vegas 84 16 months ago.
Hermansson took time off following injuries and surgeries, fighting a decent first round against Rodrigues before he was ultimately knocked out.
A win over Rodrigues likely would have landed Hermansson back in the middleweight rankings, where he was for so long.
However, that honor will probably go to Rodrigues after a ferocious knockout of the perennial contender.