Gregory Rodrigues stiffened Jack Hermansson with one punch at UFC 317, sending the middleweight “Joker” crashing to the canvas in a frightening scene last Sat. night (June 28, 2025) during the “Prelims” stream inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Then added a second one to the downed Swede because that’s “his job.”
It’s also the job of referee Herb Dean to stop the fight, but the veteran official was unable to get in between Rodrigues and Hermansson before “Robocop” uncorked a follow-up blow — leading to criticism from fight fans about the necessity of an additional strike.
“First of all, I don’t care what the people think,” Rodrigues said at the UFC 317 post-fight conference. “When you go inside the cage, we signed the contract, we’re able to do everything. If it was on the other side, and he did the same, why am I going to be mad with him? He did his job. I hope he’s okay. He’s a warrior like me. But I’m not going to stop until the ref says to stop. I just did my job. That’s what I do. That’s what he does. It is what it is. It was my night.”
The debate over striking a fallen opponent who is clearly in la-la land has been going on for more than a decade, with one of the more prominent examples coming in the UFC 100 showdown between rival TUF coaches Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping.
At least Fares Ziam was kind enough to apologize.
It took several minutes for the Hermansson, 37, to regain consciousness but “The Joker” was later released under his own power following an extensive medical examination. Expect a lengthy timeout when the commission releases its medical suspensions later this week.
For more UFC 317 results and highlights click here.
