Joe Pyfer violently returned to the win column at UFC 303 last month (June 29, 2024).
It was a good time to be Pyfer from 2022 to early 2024. The Dana White’s Contender Series alum had a famous quote coined for him by UFC’s boss, he lived up to the hype with great performances, but eventually came up short when given a ranked opponent.
The 27-year-old Middleweight prospect lost a five round unanimous decision against Jack Hermansson this past February. At UFC 303, Pyfer came back with a vengeance against Canada’s Marc-Andre Barriault, scoring the knockout at the 1:25 mark of round one (watch highlights). As great of a win as it was for “Bodybagz,” he couldn’t enjoy it after the reception his previous loss brought.
“There’s really no high from this one,” Pyfer said on The MMA Hour. “I don’t know what it is. I think I’m so disgusted with MMA fans that there’s really no joy in it for me now. I just feel like a lot of people are all fake now. So after getting sh*t on because I came up short in the decision, I just don’t have that — I don’t know. I’m just being honest, I don’t know.
“I was talking to my coach about it because there really is no high for me,” he continued. “I’m excited and I’m proud of myself. It was a stellar performance and I made the most money I’ve ever made in my career, and that is what I’m super happy about.”
Pyfer’s bout against Hermansson was a case of “too much too soon” after battering his way through 13 opponents to only go the distance once (13-3). Circumstantially, the Vineland, New Jersey native believes it’s not fair to call him a “fraud” after one UFC loss.
“Everybody kind of said I got fraud checked, and it kind of rubbed me the wrong way,” Pyfer said. “I [don’t] think fraud check is I go out there and I fight the No. 10 guy in the world in my fourth fight in the UFC, unranked, and go five rounds with him, and was winning early and showing that I was the better boxer until I couldn’t keep the same pace, got hit in the eye, couldn’t see the guy for the rest of the fight. Credit to him, it’s because he caused damage. He hit me in the eye, it was a legal shot, and then he started, with his veteran skills, investing in that calf kick. Fifth round it was 2-2, I come out, I felt like I was going to start getting my momentum, and then he took me down. He switched it up.
“But my point is, everybody f*cking sh*t on me and said I got fraud checked and ‘salty man Joe’ and all this sh*t,” he continued. “I was like, yo, it’s fair. I deserve this because I now got both ends of the stick. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I took a risk and it wasn’t the smartest risk, given the circumstances, but I’m proud of my performance, and I just had to learn that hate is something that’s always going to come in this sport no matter how successful we are, and it will come at a brutal cost of your mental health if you don’t learn to detach people who don’t matter’s opinions.”