A new (and skinnier) \u201cJoker\u201d is coming to town.<\/p>\n
Longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight contender Jack Hermansson is making a dramatic career pivot this weekend<\/a>, dropping to Welterweight for the first time in his 33-fight career. He meets rising prospect Myktybek Orolbai on Sat., Nov. 22, 2025, at UFC Qatar<\/a> inside ABHA Arena in Doha, Qatar.<\/p>\n Hermansson (24-9) has spent his entire UFC tenure at 185 pounds \u2014 18 fights over nearly a decade \u2014 but after years of alternating wins and losses, plus a brutal knockout at the hands of Gregory Rodrigues in his last outing (watch highlights<\/a>), \u201cThe Joker\u201d felt something had to change. Even at 37, he believes a fresh start at 170 pounds might be his last shot at making a real run.<\/p>\n \u201cI misread his punch and got caught, but I still think I prepared well for that fight, and I think if I could have kept that fight going for longer, I would have done well,\u201d Hermansson told reporters during UFC Qatar media day. \u201cBut it happened the way it did, and I needed to do something different, which is why the thoughts of going down to the Welterweight division came up\u2026I\u2019ve proven that I can compete with bigger guys at Middleweight, but I\u2019m not happy with the inconsistency: a win, a loss, a win. I don\u2019t want to look back at my career and feel like I didn\u2019t do everything possible to find success.\u201d<\/p>\n So, how is the first cut to 170 lbs going?<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going well now and it\u2019s been a learning process,\u201d Hermansson said. \u201cI\u2019ve never had to restrict calories while training before. I\u2019m used to eating whatever I want. Now I\u2019m suffering \u2026 and someone is going to have to pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Orolbai, meanwhile, is also changing divisions \u2014 but in the opposite direction \u2014 moving up from Lightweight after missing weight in two straight fights (though not officially, as both were shifted to catchweights before weigh-ins).<\/p>\n Hermansson enters UFC Qatar as a slight underdog at +165.<\/p>\n