Joe Pyfer breaks down lessons learned in upset loss in first UFC main event
Because he says he “wasn’t supposed to be here anyway,” Joe Pyfer 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.
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.”
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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.
