Tag: Joe Pyfer

Joe Pyfer dislikes Paul Craig, wants to fight him next: ‘There’s something about his f*cking face’

Joe Pyfer explains why he called out Paul Craig following his stoppage win at Saturday’s UFC 303.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag] wants to take a step forward in the UFC middleweight rankings, and while he’s at it, he wants to address a personal matter.

Pyfer (13-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) wants his next career move to be against veteran [autotag]Paul Craig[/autotag], as he believes it makes sense sporting wise, and also, he’s got an issue with the Scottish man.

The 27-year-old Pyfer fought Saturday at UFC 303, stopping Marc-Andre Barriault (16-8 MMA, 5-7 UFC) in the first round. After the fight, he called out Craig for a fight this fall. The callout stems from a brief interaction they had in the past.

“He just looked at me weird one time and I don’t even think he remembers, but I hold grudges, so f*ck him,” Pyfer told reporters at the UFC 303 post-fight press conference.

Pyfer is not a fan of Craig and wants to use him to climb the rankings. He’s hoping the UFC grants him his wish.

“I don’t like the dude,” Pyfer said. “That’s the only thing I can say is I don’t really like the guy. There’s something about his f*cking face. It’s also his antics. He gets in your face and be all theatrical, but then he gets touched, and he falls on to the ground like a back princess.

“I think it makes sense, too. Logistically, I think it makes sense. He was No. 14, and then he fought Caio and lost. I don’t know where he’s at, if 15 or just outside the rankings, and I’m No. 19, so let’s line it up. That’s what I’m interested in, so why not?”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.

UFC 303 Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay: Alex Pereira leads card with $42,000

Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 303 took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $306,500.

LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC 303 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $311,500.

The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.

UFC 303 took place at T-Mobile Arena. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.

The full UFC 303 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:

* * * *

[autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]: $42,000
def. [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag]: $32,000

[autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag]: $16,000

[autotag]Roman Dolidze[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Anthony Smith[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Macy Chiasson[/autotag]: $11,000
def. [autotag]Mayra Bueno Silva[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag]: $4,500
def. [autotag]Marc-Andre Barriault[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Andre Fili[/autotag]: $21,000
def. [autotag]Cub Swanson[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Jean Silva[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Charles Jourdain[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Payton Talbott[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Yanis Ghemmouri[/autotag]: $4,000

[autotag]Gillian Robertson[/autotag]: $16,000
def. [autotag]Michelle Waterson-Gomez[/autotag]: $11,000

[autotag]Martin Buday[/autotag]: $6,000
def. [autotag]Andrei Arlovski[/autotag]: $21,000

[autotag]Rei Tsuruya[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Carlos Hernandez[/autotag]: $4,500

[autotag]Vinicius Oliveira[/autotag]: $4,000
def. [autotag]Ricky Simon[/autotag]: $11,000

Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2011 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.

In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.

Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:

Year-to-date total: $3,948,500
2023 total: $8,188,000
2022 total: $8,351,500
2021 total: $6,167,500
Program-to-date total: $26,685,500

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.

UFC 303 results: Joe Pyfer sleeps Marc-Andre Barriault with brutal knockout punches

Joe Pyfer ripped through UFC 303 opponent Marc-Andre Barriault with an 85-second knockout.

[autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag] punched his way back into the win column in brutal fashion at UFC 303.

In the featured prelim, Pyfer (13-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) bashed [autotag]Marc-Andre Barriault[/autotag] (16-8 MMA, 5-7 UFC) with a series of brutal punches that left the Canadian unconscious on the canvas at 1:25 of Round 1. The middleweight bout took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Pyfer, 27, became the poster boy for Dana White’s Contender Series for a violent finish in 2022 that fired up Dana White and led to the UFC CEO’s “Be Joe Pyfer” speech. After four finish wins, Pyfer headlined in February vs. Jack Hermansson and lost a unanimous decision.

Barriault, 34, has lost back-to-back fights. In January, Barriault lost a split decision to Chris Curtis. The defeat was the second time he’s been finished with strikes in his pro career.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 303 results include:

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.

Joe Pyfer def. Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 303: Best photos

Check out the best photos from Joe Pyfer’s win over Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 303.

Check out the best photos from [autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag]’s first-round knockout win over [autotag]Marc-Andre Barriault[/autotag] at UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. (Fight and venue photos by Mark J. Rebilas and Per Haljestam, USA Today Sports)

Joe Pyfer: ‘I’ll be right back where I belong’ with UFC 303 win over Marc-Andre Barriault

UFC middleweight Joe Pyfer intends to resume his momentum at UFC 303 by rebounding from his first loss in the promotion.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag] doesn’t seem too concerned with public perception after his first UFC loss.

Pyfer (12-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) turned many heads with his performance on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022, including the tagline UFC CEO Dana White dropped when announcing he was heading to the big show: “Be Joe Pyfer.”

“Bodybagz” lived up to the hype in his first three fights. Pyfer finished Alen Amedovski, Gerald Meerschaert and Abdul Razak Alhassan all before the third round. However, in his fourth outing, he reached the third round, and even the final horn, but lost a unanimous decision to Jack Hermansson.

Pyfer immediately felt people jumping off his train after his first UFC loss. He looks to rebound at UFC 303 against Marc-Andre Barriault and has stayed true to his self-imposed promise of being quiet in the lead-up.

“The only thing that changed was the social media world, but nothing has changed in my heart and nothing has changed in my mind,” Pyfer told reporters at the UFC 303 media day. “… We live in a woke f*cking world with a bunch of little weak b*tches. So, I don’t have much respect for a lot of people that have to bite their tongue because it’s the social norm. Social norm doesn’t make it right, so there’s a lot of sh*t that I don’t f*ck with.”

While tuning out the change in public perception, Pyfer says he has been working hard at getting back into the win column. During this camp he focused on dialing in his nutrition plan and feels great just days ahead of his fight against Barriault (16-7 MMA, 5-6 UFC). If he performs like he believes he can, and picks up his fourth UFC stoppage, he expects people to immediately come back around.

“Everybody’s acting like I got knocked out, choked out or something,” Pyfer said. “Bro, I lost a decision and I lost by one round, and in that third round, I got hit in the eyeball, couldn’t see the guy for the rest of the fight. So, it’s just people’s delusion. It’s like I lost by that much. Dude’s got 17 UFC fights, that was my fifth one, and I’m out there performing at that on my fifth fight.

“I’ll be right back where I belong, trust me.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.

Marc-Andre Barriault expects power struggle with Joe Pyfer at UFC 303

“I don’t have any fear to taste his power,” Marc-Andre Barriault said of Joe Pyfer ahead of UFC 303.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag] was always on [autotag]Marc-Andre Barriault[/autotag]’s radar before UFC 303.

Barriault (16-7 MMA, 5-6 UFC) takes on Pyfer (12-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 303 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) featured prelim at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

With Pyfer’s career trajectory and hype behind him through Dana White’s Contender Series, Barriault is not surprised that he was matched up with him. Both fighters are coming off losses to ranked opposition.

“I knew at one point – I was looking at him since the Contender Series,” Barriault told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “He did great on the Contender. He did great in his first three fights. He had a big test, just like me, top-15 guy his last fight. So, at one point I was like, ‘OK, maybe we’re going to cross paths, and yeah, it’s going to happen this Saturday.”

Pyfer shared video proof of him breaking Francis Ngannou’s punch machine record, but Barriault is happy to find out about his power on fight night.

“I don’t have any fear to taste his power, but one thing for sure: I can deliver power too,” Barriault said. “Sooner or later he’s going to taste my power. He’s going to know why they call me ‘Power Bar,’ and I think I’m just going to be  on him and just do my thing. For sure it’s going to be a hell of a fight.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.

UFC 303 adds Joe Pyfer vs. Marc-Andre Barriault to International Fight Week lineup

UFC 303, the International Fight Week event headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler, continues to fill.

The annual pay-per-view lineup for International Fight Week is filling up slowly but surely.

The most recent addition to UFC 303 is a middleweight bout between [autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag] and [autotag]Marc-Andre Barriault[/autotag], the promotion announced Wednesday. The event takes place June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler.

Pyfer (12-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) aims to rebound from his first promotional loss. He earned a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022 and became one of the show’s most well known products partially due to White’s “Be Joe Pyfer” post-fight speech. Pyfer defeated Alen Amedovski, Gerald Meerschaert and Abdul Razak Alhassan before he lost a unanimous decision to Jack Hermansson in his first promotional main event in February.

Barriault (16-7 MMA, 5-6 UFC) looks to bounce back into the win column after a split decision loss to Chris Curtis in January. The defeat snapped a two-fight skid that consisted of wins over Julian Marquez and Eryk Anders.

With the addition, the UFC 303 lineup includes:

  • Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler
  • Andre Fili vs. Cub Swanson
  • Gillian Robertson vs. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
  • Carlos Hernandez vs. Rei Tsuruya
  • Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Joe Pyfer

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.

Mick Maynard’s Shoes: What’s next for Joe Pyfer after UFC Fight Night 236 loss?

Did Joe Pyfer get exposed as average in his first octagon loss to Jack Hermansson at UFC Fight Night 236?

(ALSO SEE: Mick Maynard’s Shoes: What’s next for Jack Hermansson after UFC Fight Night 236 win?)

If anyone ever underestimates the significance of experience in MMA, point no further than Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 236 main event, in which [autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag] suffered his first octagon loss against Jack Hermansson.

Beaming with the confidence of three consecutive finishes to begin his UFC tenure, Pyfer (12-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) came into the middleweight headliner vs. Hermansson (24-8 MMA, 11-6 UFC) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas with maximum confidence. It showed in the octagon to start the fight, with Pyfer controlling the first and second rounds.

The narrative changed in the third, however, when Hermansson landed a big punch that hindered Pyfer’s vision. He shrunk in the moment of adversity while Hermansson displayed veteran savvy and took over down the stretch to win a unanimous decision and take home the upset, leaving questions about whether Pyfer was overmatched and overhyped.

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His next performance will be more telling on that front. If Pyfer learned lessons in output, pacing and the ability to control the flow of a fight, he’ll be better for this. If not, than this main event might be his pinnacle. At just 27, however, the future could still be quite bright for Pyfer.

He needs to rack up one or two wins before he gets another crack at a ranked opponent, though. Many think he was fast-tracked to this spot, so the next time he gets someone with a number next to his name, it needs to be entirely warranted.

Someone like the winner of next month’s UFC Fight Night matchup between Eryk Anders (15-7 MMA, 7-8 UFC) and Jamie Pickett (13-10 MMA, 2-6 UFC) is in the wheelhouse of a fitting rebound fight for Pyfer. Both men are experienced and have fought some marquee names in the division, and there’s a lot to compare and contrast in how Pyfer would handle them. The fight doesn’t go down until March 2, meaning Pyfer has time to heal up then make his timeline match up with that of the winner.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 236.

UFC Fight Night 236 post-event facts: Rodolfo Vieira claims record with another arm-triangle choke

Check out all the facts from UFC Fight Night 236, which saw Rodolfo Vieira become the all-time octagon leader in arm-triangle choke wins.

The UFC’s lengthy stretch of events rolled on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 236 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

[autotag]Jack Hermansson[/autotag] (24-8 MMA, 11-6 UFC) emerged victorious in the main event when he scored an upset of [autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag] (12-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) by unanimous decision in their middleweight bout.

For more on the numbers from the headliner, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from UFC Fight Night 236.

Joe Pyfer breaks down lessons learned in upset loss in first UFC main event

Because he “wasn’t supposed to be here anyway,” Joe Pyfer seemed to take things in stride after Jack Hermansson ended his momentum.

Because he says he “wasn’t supposed to be here anyway,” [autotag]Joe Pyfer[/autotag] seemed to be taking things in stride in the early hours after Jack Hermansson put a halt to his momentum.

Hermansson (24-8 MMA, 11-6 UFC) was down two rounds on the scorecards to Pyfer (12-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 236 main event, but rallied to win the last three rounds for a 48-47 unanimous decision sweep of the scorecards at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

After a much-documented arm injury TKO loss from a Dustin Stoltzfus slam on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2020, Pyfer worked his way back and got another crack at the UFC on DWCS and came through with a TKO win. When he told White afterward he was on the verge of homelessness, White made sure he had a place to live for a year and then told future DWCS fighters they needed to “Be Joe Pyfer” in their attitudes and effort if they wanted to make it into the UFC.

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Pyfer’s first three middleweight fights in the UFC were stoppage wins, including for a pair of $50,000 bonuses, and it looked every bit like he was on an ascension toward title contender status – especially in a 185-pound division that never has been more chaotic in the UFC.

After his loss to Hermansson, who was the third biggest underdog on the card, Pyfer said a punch in the eye affected his vision and, along with calf kicks from Hermansson, were the stories of the fight.

“I’m OK, despite how my face looks,” Pyfer said in a video posted to social media. “I wasn’t rocked. I got punched in the eyeball (and) couldn’t see. I did a good job on the calf (kicks). But I feel like the eye, when I lost vision, I fell that round; I lost that round and just couldn’t get it back, and he did a good job on the calf.

“To all my haters, suck a fat d*ck. I wasn’t supposed to be here anyway. I give it 100 percent every time. We’ll make adjustments and we’ll come back. Thank you to all my sponsors, thank you to everybody who supports me, and yeah – good job, Jack.”

https://www.instagram.com/stories/joepyfer/3300109908035990797

The fight was the first time in his career Pyfer had been past the third round, and that time – the only previous decision of his career, win or loss – was nearly six years ago. Hermansson has more than twice as much experience as Pyfer and had been five rounds in the UFC three times prior to Saturday. But after a four-fight winning streak had him in middleweight title contention in 2019, Hermansson has alternated wins and losses for nine fights.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 236.