Las Vegas, NV — At Tuesday’s season opener of the Contender Series, middleweight Joseph Pyfer finally got to shake hands with a man he’d watched on TV since he was five years old, UFC President Dana White.
“I sacrificed everything to get here. I had my first opportunity, it didn’t go my way. Look where we are, we’re back in here,” Pyfer (9-2) told media outlets including Cageside Press. “Let’s go.”
Pyfer was the only fighter awarded a UFC contract by White on Tuesday, with the other three fights on the card going the distance. Pyfer? He landed a thunderous knockout on Ozzy Diaz in the second round, in his second appearance on the show.
“Let’s face it, this world is very cruel, unforgiving, unfair, that’s one thing that we all have to learn,” Pyfer said when asked about adversity he faced getting to this point. But, he added, it also guided him to the team he now trains with. “And it helps you find who you are, adversity. As corny as it is. I went through depression, I worked 18 years to get that first shot, and it got taken away from me. I would rather be knocked out or submitted.”
If you recall, Pyfer’s first Contender Series bout ended with an injury — and he doesn’t see it as a loss. “You feel loss in your heart. When you get your ass whupped, you really feel that loss. I didn’t get my ass whupped, I didn’t lose that fight, my arm dislocated. I made a mistake, absolutely, and it is a loss in the sense that it’s on my record, but in my heart, that man didn’t beat me. So look how it comes full circle. Here we are.”
Pyfer’s journey goes back well before his Dana White’s Contender Series appearance, he later told Cageside Press. “What everybody doesn’t know is, I’ve been doing this sh*t since I was four and a half years old. I’m not new. I’ve been around, I was at Fight Factory. Ask Eddie Alvarez, he used to fight for you guys, he was your lightweight champion. Ask him how long I’ve been in the game. I’ve been around, and now this is just my time.”
Pyfer’s win gave way to a post-fight interview where he opened up about a friend attempting to kill himself recently. It was reminiscent of Paddy Pimblett’s post-fight speech on Saturday, where he revealed he’d lost a friend to suicide shortly before his own fight.
Pyfer did catch Pimblett’s statements, and opened up about fighters trying to suppress their emotions.
“I did see his snippet and I loved that he did that, but let’s be honest, fighters, they all try to act emotionless,” stated Pyfer. “Because this is a mean business. Ozzy Diaz is going through it right now, and my heart goes out to him. This isn’t easy, to step in there. It’s not easy to go out there, to put yourself out there and get smoked.”
Now that he’s officially part of the UFC roster, Pyfer has a debut date in mind. Assuming he has no major injuries coming out of Tuesday’s fight, “I would like to get on the Abu Dhabi card with Sean Brady,” he said, expressing a desire to fight alongside his teammate.
Watch the full DWCS 47 post-fight interview with Joseph Pyfer above.
