Wolverhampton’s own Jai Herbert has pledged to give his hometown something to cheer about as he steps into the UFC Octagon on the same weekend that Wolves’ relegation from the Premier League could be confirmed.
Herbert (13-6-1; 9 KOs, 1 submission) faces Canadian debutant Mandel Nallo in enemy territory in Winnipeg on Saturday, hoping to bounce back from a split-decision defeat to Chris Padilla last March.
The 37-year-old’s return to the cage could unfortunately come hours after his boyhood club Wolves seal their crushing but “inevitable” fate of demotion back to the Championship after eight years in the top-flight.
Rob Edwards’s side could be officially relegated on Saturday if they lose to Leeds and crisis-ridden Tottenham beat Brighton at home. If Wolves suffer defeat but Roberto De Zerbi remains winless as Spurs manager, survival could still become mathematically impossible on Monday if West Ham pick up even a point at Crystal Palace.
“It’s a bit inevitable, I think they’re going to go down obviously,” Herbert told The Independent. “The past few games, I know they lost to West Ham the other day but they’ve to get wins and they’ve been showing a bit of fight.
“But I’ll get the win for Wolverhampton on Saturday and that should give the people something to cheer about anyway.”
The “Black Country Banger” remained optimistic about his team’s chances of immediately returning to the Premier League, adding: “It’s one of them ones, man. They’ll come back up next season.
“He [Edwards] has got the experience in the Championship and we’ve still got some decent players. So I think they’ll come back up.”
Over a year on from his last outing in front of a partisan crowd at UFC London, Herbert will tasked with dealing with quite the opposite environment as he takes on a Canadian fighter in his own country.
But Herbert is not bothered by being the subject of hostility, saying: “I’m not ready to play the villain. I’m just ready to go out there and get the win, get a knockout.
“I’ve dealt with it before. I’ve been to different places where people have their own crowd. But at the end of the day, they can’t fight for you. That’s the way I see it, they literally can’t do nothing for you.
“It actually helps you to be honest, when they’re giving you stick and that and stuff, it gives you powers. You’ve got to use it – it’s motivation.”
