Athletes
Joe Pyfer Just Wants To Be Joe Pyfer
Middleweight Standout Has A Different Mindset Ahead Of UFC 320
If there comes a point where Joe Pyfer emerges as an elite contender in the middleweight division — and to be clear, he has the tools to get there — this week heading into UFC 320 and his matchup with Abus Magomedov on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas are very likely to be the point everyone looks back on and says, “That’s where it changed.”
That moment occurs at some point in the trajectory of every elite fighter. They have that one fight where things look different for the first time or they deliver a performance where everything they’ve been working on in the gym coalesces at the right time, and you see the ideal version of the fighter they could be. Many times, what leads to those performances transpiring has less to do with the physical and more to do with the mental. Hearing Pyfer speak this week leading into his clash with Abus Magomedov, the emerging middleweight standout sounds like a different competitor, one that is truly at a point where he just might go on a run.
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“I’m at the bottom,” offered Pyfer when asked where he sees himself in terms of where he’s at in his progression up the middleweight ranks. “I’m definitely not anywhere near where I want to be. Part of it has been because of injury, and part of it is just not rushing my career, trying to develop my career and get better and better and better so I don’t have performances that are boring, and I can compete against the top guys.
“There’s a lot of really good guys in this division, whereas two years ago (when) they were saying it’s not really that great of a division because (Israel Adesanya) had cleaned most of it out. I feel like there is a resurgence here, and I have to take my time and do my due diligence, be humble, keep training, and get better.”
“I don’t believe it’s difficult at all,” he answers when asked how difficult it is to be patient at a time when the division is back in the spotlight and brimming with excitement. “If you’re a student of the game, you understand the time that it takes, and it’s not something that happens overnight.”
That’s not necessarily the response you would have anticipated getting from Pyfer this time last year, and if you did, it wouldn’t have felt as genuine and truthful as it did when we spoke earlier in the week.
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From the time he burst onto the scene following his “Be Joe Pyfer” moment on the opening week of Season 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series, the 29-year-old has displayed a hard edge; an ornery streak mixed with an “I’ll f****** show you!” approach forged in the pain and struggle of his abusive upbringing. It’s like he was trying to convert everyone into believers every time he stepped into the Octagon, while also feeling annoyed that people doubted him in the first place and pissed off that he had to talk about all of it, too.
But this week, the Philadelphia-based fighter was more laid back, more comfortable with both the process and in his own skin.
“I was too emotionally invested into every part of the game, and I think that’s been a thing that caused me anxiety or stress, and to maybe not enjoy this as much as I should,” said Pyfer. “When you have cameras in your face and people asking you, asking you, asking you the same thing a thousand different ways, it can become — you almost put the pressure on yourself like ‘I gotta get the finish.’
“At the end of the day, I have the expectation to get finishes, and I’m gonna go out there and put it on the line — that’s just the kind of guy I am, the aggression that I have — but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. I would just say I’m less emotionally invested in the things I have to say to media, just for the simple fact that the fans are kind of bipolar — they’re hot, they’re cold; they love you, they hate you.
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Pyfer smirked after summing up the fickle nature of many MMA fans perfectly, before adding, “For the ones that love you and been with you, you appreciate them, but ultimately, I do this for me and to provide for my family, and my future.”
And letting go of that investment has given the Marquez MMA representative the opportunity to focus in the elements of this sport that he loves and let everything else fall by the boards, including the image of himself that he had previously crafted in his head.
“I love this sport. I love fighting; that’s what I love to do. I don’t love all the extra s***, and that’s not something I would have said a year-and-a-half ago because I was still new to everything — signing posters, taking pictures, doing this, having people come up to you and things like that,” he explained. “It’s cool, but ultimately, I think it takes away — you start buying into that you’re somebody that’s more important than what you actually are.
“But I’m just me, and I’ve always been me since I’ve been in the UFC, and I just don’t care how people view me, at all.”
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He may not care, but if things go according to how he envisions on Saturday night against Magomedov, there are going to be a ton of people viewing him as a dark horse in the division and someone to keep very close tabs on going forward.
Magomedov is not as familiar a name as some of the opposition Pyfer has faced in the past, but the 35-year-old veteran heads into UFC 320 on a 3-fight winning streak having followed up his tandem wins last year with a unanimous decision victory over Michel Pereira. He is experienced and well-rounded, finding his footing inside the Octagon after an uneven start that included understandable losses to Sean Strickland and Caio Borralho.
“He’s a very skilled guy — probably the most skilled and, firefight-wise, probably the most dangerous, aside from Abdul (Razak Alhassan) who I’ve fought,” Pyfer said, offering his honest assessment of Magomedov. “He’s very dangerous, very good, and I respect him, but I’m looking to take him out. I’m excited for the fight; I’m excited for the matchup.
“I think it’s gonna depend a lot on him — how aggressive he is, how aggressive I am — but in a perfect world, I get him out of there inside two rounds, maybe even the first round,” he added. “But like I said, he’s very skilled, and I have a lot of respect for him and his career — he’s got double the fights that I do — but he’s been sent to the Dark World once, stone-cold, he’s been TKOed once in the UFC, and he’s been hurt in both of his fights against Caio and Brunno Ferreria.
“These are all top guys, and it’s no knock on him, but what I’m saying is there is (an avenue where) I have big power, and, if I can touch him, throw combinations, keep that pressure on him, I know he’s gonna break. My opinion of Abus is that he’s a very good fighter, he’s a very skilled fighter, but he’s not a very tough fighter. That’s just my opinion and I’m looking forward to challenging him on that.”
And if his idealized version of how things transpire should come to pass, there is only one place Pyfer envisions himself after this weekend.
“Top 15, especially with a finish,” he said. “If I don’t get a finish, I understand not Top 15, but with a good finish? A good knockout? I think Top 15.”
Zac Pacleb contributed to this story.
UFC 320: Ankalaev vs Pereira 2 took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 4, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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