Joe Pyfer wants his credit.
The 27-year-old Contender Series contract winner, Pyfer, has wasted no time rising to prominence in the Middleweight division since he finished Osman Diaz via a second round technical knockout in July 2022. Three wins later, “Bodybagz” finds himself on the cusp of breaking into his division’s Top 15.
Pyfer shocked the world, and Joe Rogan, last month when it was revealed that he broke former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight champion, Francis Ngannou’s, world record for hardest punch. However, the record wasn’t officially given to Pyfer, and that along with overall reactions to his effort does not sit well with him.
“This s—t pisses me off,” Pyfer said at UFC Vegas 86 media day. “I hit the f—king machine, the same machine, and I hit it with a 16-ounce glove. For all these nerds out there that don’t understand science: I hit it with a 16-ounce glove. That means I didn’t even get to hit it as hard as I could because I had a big pad. So, I broke the record with a big glove, I broke it four or five times. I broke it in front of the operations guy, there was a Heavyweight from Brazil that was hitting it, couldn’t even come close to it. His coach hit it, couldn’t come close to it. Brendan Allen’s coach hit it, didn’t come close to it, and they didn’t want to give it to me officially.
“I don’t know why,” he continued. “Then everybody makes this narrative about f—king talking about oiling up Dana [White’s] ass and s—t, and that it’s like Dana White trying to take out Ngannou. Bro, I got nothing but respect for anybody that’s ever stepped in this cage, that has ever done something to change their life.
“We’ve all come from struggles to be someone then I get discredited because I hit harder,” Pyfer concluded. “S—t pisses me off, bro. F—k those nerds, whoever told me that I didn’t get that f—king score. I’ll do it again and just to say this, I had a torn rotator cuff when I hit it. Then I had to stop because I hurt myself. F—k those nerds.”
Whether or not Pyfer officially holds the impressive record, he undeniably hits very hard and the proof is in eight of his 12 career wins (12-2) that ended by knockout. Pyfer’s next fight will be his biggest yet when he fights in his first UFC main event opposite perennial Top 10 contender, Jack Hermansson, at UFC Vegas 86 this weekend (Sat., Feb. 10, 2024).
“Jack, 35 years old, he’s been out a year, he got TKO’d by Roman Dolidze, who I think had an unimpressive boring fight,” Pyfer said. “I think Roman’s tough but I just, I don’t know. I might be overlooking the guy in some people’s eyes but I just don’t see him being able to hurt me, man.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 86 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 7 p.m. ET.
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