Jack Hermansson meets Joe Pyfer in the middleweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas. The fights at UFC Apex are on ESPN+, with the 7 p.m. ET main card preceded by prelims at 4 p.m.
Hermansson (23-8) has not fought since a loss to Roman Dolidze in December 2022. He was scheduled for a bout last June but withdrew, citing an unspecified injury.
Pyfer (12-2) has won five fights in a row, most recently a second-round submission of Abdul Razak Alhassan in October.
How to watch the fights
Watch the fights on ESPN+: Get ESPN+ here.
There's also FightCenter, which offers live updates for every UFC card.
The UFC fight card
ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET
Middleweight: Jack Hermansson vs. Joe Pyfer
Men's featherweight: Dan Ige vs. Andre Fili
Middleweight: Brad Tavares vs. Gregory Rodrigues
Lightweight: Michael Johnson vs. Darrius Flowers
Middleweight: Robert Bryczek vs. Ihor Potieria
Middleweight: Rodolfo Vieira vs. Armen Petrosyan
ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET
Welterweight: Trevin Giles vs. Carlos Prates
Lightweight: Damir Hadzovic vs. Bolaji Oki
Strawweight: Loma Lookboonmee vs. Bruna Brasil
Light heavyweight: Devin Clark vs. Marcin Prachnio
Welterweight: Max Griffin vs. Jeremiah Wells
Light heavyweight: Zac Pauga vs. Bogdan Guskov
Men's featherweight: Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Hyder Amil
Men's bantamweight: Daniel Marcos vs. Aoriqileng
Reed Kuhn's betting tip
Statistically, Pyfer is a deserving favorite and shows up on paper with superior performance metrics in almost every category. However, the sample size is important. With just 14 minutes of Octagon time, Pyfer has looked incredible and remains somewhat unknown. Hermansson will be most at risk early, as he doesn't have much power to offer and is more susceptible to a knockdown. His poor head strike defense and age only compound this risk. However, Pyfer is untested in defending takedowns. If Hermansson can get this to the ground, he negates the biggest threat -- Pyfer's power punching -- and puts himself in a position to leverage his strength via submissions.
For Kuhn's suggested bets on the main event and other fights on Saturday's card, check out the ESPN+ expert picks and best bets article (link below). It also features analysis by Din Thomas, MMA coach and ESPN analyst, as well as ESPN's other betting expert, Ian Parker.
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UFC Fight Night: Expert picks, best bets for Hermansson-Pyfer