Jack Hermansson invites opponent Marvin Vettori to target his sprained toe at UFC Fight Night

Jack Hermansson was first supposed to face Darren Till on December 5th, but the latter pulled out before being replaced by Kevin Holland. Unfortunately, Kevin Holland tested positive for COVID-19. Italian fighter Marvin Vettori, who was scheduled to face Jacare Souza at UFC 256, will now be facing Jack Hermansson instead.

Jack Hermansson and Jacare Souza essentially swapped opponents, but The Joker simply wants to fight and didn't hesitate when being offered Marvin Vettori as a replacement.

Jack Hermansson has a lot more to lose than Marvin Vettori, but he's more confident than ever. In an interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani, Jack Hermansson openly admitted that he has an injured toe.

While fighters always hide their injuries before and during fights, Jack Hermansson spoke about it openly. When Ariel Helwani asked why, the Swedish-Norwegian fighter said:

Not only is @jackthejokermma not hiding his injured toe, he’s inviting #UFCVegas16 opponent Marvin Vettori to stomp on it 😅 (via @arielhelwani) pic.twitter.com/6Fa1efgrAd

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 2, 2020

"My strength and conditioning coach, he's so skeptical about this stuff. He's like 'You can never talk about anything like that" and I'm just like 'Yeah, go on Marvin, try to step on my toe, try to focus on that, and I'm going to punch you in the face'. If you're focusing on the injuries of your opponent, then you're making a big mistake. You need to see the big picture all the time, so yeah, go after my toe. It's really painful, it still is. I can be open about it. It hasn't healed. Try to stop it, throw whatever you want, and I'm going to find something to do"

Is Jack Hermansson making a mistake by revealing his injury?

What was interesting was that not only did Jack Hermansson reveal his injury, but he seemingly revealed the extent of it as well. While there's no doubt that Marvin Vettori will try to make it worse, it won't be surprising to see him stay alert and try to look at the big picture, as Jack Hermansson mentioned.

Either way, Jack Hermansson will be expected to get the job done at UFC Vegas, and with a win, he can likely secure a number one contender's fight.