Jack Hermansson nickname origin: Why is the UFC middleweight known as 'The Joker'?

As a staple of the UFC middleweight division for nearly half a decade, Jack Hermansson is widely regarded as one of the nicest fighters on the roster despite having the moniker of a supervillain.

Upon initially signing with the UFC in 2016, 'The Joker' shredded through the division, going 6-2 leading into his first main event against Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza. Pulling off a major upset, Hermansson would defeat Souza to enter the top 10 and has remained amongst the elite ever since.

Though Hermansson has seen his success taper off since then, 'The Joker' has a chance to regain momentum as an underdog once again when he faces the rising Joe Pyfer on Feb. 10.

Though many fans are familiar with Hermansson as a middleweight contender, few realize the backstory of his alter-ego, 'The Joker.'

As Hermansson explained on The MMA Hour in 2019, his nickname was originally given to him as a student in school. The middleweight recalled old friends claiming his smile looked like the antagonist from the 'Batman' major motion picture series leading to them yelling out 'the Joker' during one of his weigh-ins early in his career. The name stuck ever since.

Hermansson said:

"A couple of friends at school started calling me 'The Joker' because my smile looks like the Joker from Batman. And then at weigh-ins, some people shouted 'The Joker,' so I was just: 'Okay, let's go with The Joker, then.'"

Watch the full interview from Jack Hermansson on The MMA Hour in 2019 below (44:35)

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When Sean Strickland had an NSFW response to Jack Hermansson's nickname

The origin of Jack Hermansson's nickname is not what many would think for an MMA fighter and the story even surprised Sean Strickland ahead of their bout back at UFC Vegas 47.

In his pre-fight media day interview, Strickland asked a reporter why Hermansson was known as 'The Joker' before responding to the answer with a classic NSFW insult. Strickland said:

"Jack is a good guy, what do they call him, The Joker? How does that even happen?... Oh, that's f****** g**, I thought it was like 'I want to f****** burn down the world Joker.' At the moment I thought we might have some s*** in common."

Strickland would go on to defeat Hermansson by split decision in the five-round fight and the two have remained respective of each other's status as fighters ever since.

Watch the full video of Sean Strickland's UFC Vegas 47 media day interview below : (04:07)