The best and worst from UFC on ESPN: Barboza vs. Gaethje

#2 Best: Jack Hermansson’s beautiful submission

Jack Hermansson's arm-in guillotine submission of David Branch was beautiful

I’ve often preached that a really slick submission is more impressive than a brutal knockout, even in a visual sense, and for me that was shown last night in Jack Hermansson’s win over David Branch.

Not only was it somewhat of an upset – I picked Branch to win via submission and never expected Hermansson to submit such a high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt – but it should put ‘The Joker’ into title contention at 185lbs, too.

Branch was never really given a chance to get out of first gear. Hermansson clinched with him, hit a beautiful trip takedown, and in the scramble, the Swedish fighter locked up an arm-in guillotine choke with expert precision.

Seconds later, with no possibility of escape, Branch tapped out – handing Hermansson arguably the biggest victory of his career, and making him only the second man to submit the New Yorker after the infamous Rousimar Palhares back in 2011.

The submission win was Hermansson’s third in a row, and his only loss since 2016 was to Thiago Santos – who’s now the top contender at 205lbs.

With clear skills in all areas, a never-say-die attitude and a finisher’s instinct, Hermansson can probably expect another big fight from the UFC next time out. Outside of Justin Gaethje, he was last night’s biggest winner.