Born in Geldrop, the Netherlands, He competes in the MXGP Motocross World Championship for the Red Bull KTM factory racing team.

Herlings ultimately won his third MX2 World Championship title, marking a triumphant conclusion to his MX2 career before moving on to compete in the premier MXGP class.

Despite not securing the top spot, Herlings still demonstrated impressive riding skills and achieved notable successes throughout the season.

Coming off an impressive 2017 MXGP debut season where he finished 2nd to Antonio Cairoli, Herlings was dubbed by many to dethrone the 9x world champion.

Later in the year, Herlings was a member of the winning Dutch team at the 2019 Motocross des Nations event that included Glenn Coldenhoff and Calvin Vlaanderen.

At round 6 in Citta di Faenza, he crashed during practice and was virtually paralyzed for about 30 minutes before regaining control of his body.

[7] In 2021 Herlings missed one round after Kawasaki rider Ivo Monticelli landed his bike on his shoulder, fracturing his scapula but not preventing his race victory or stopping him from winning the 2021 MXGP World Championship.

He also considered racing the AMA Pro Motocross Championship but opted against it, in order to allow previous injuries to recover fully.

At round 5 in Agueda, Portugal; Herlings gained his 101st Grand Prix victory which put him on par with 10-time champion, Stefan Everts.