Las Vegas — It didn’t take Joe Pyfer long to return to the win column at UFC 303. Not long at all.
Pyfer (13-3) took less than 90 seconds to smash Canadian middleweight Marc-Andre Barriault, bouncing back from a decision loss against 185lb contender Jack Hermansson earlier this year.
Barriault going down as quickly as he did was not part of the game plan, Pyfer admitted following the fight.
“No, it didn’t play out how I expected. Honestly, I gave him more credit, and I can’t say more credit than he deserved, I think he deserved it- but in my head, I was prepared for an ugly three-round brawl,” Pyfer told media outlets including Cageside Press at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “I don’t know why that’s what I kept thinking was going to happen, but I’m glad I did. Because I was definitely levels better. I have a lot of respect for him still, I think he’s a good person. It makes it a little bit easier, I do feel bad, but I’m doing my job.”
“It did not go the way I expected it to,” he finished.
Following the win, Pyfer stormed around the cage, at one point hollering something at the UFC broadcast team, including Hall of Famer and former double-champ Daniel Cormier.
“I yelled at one of them that I was sick, like a moron. I yelled at DC or somebody that I was sick my last camp,” Pyfer revealed. “And that’s very, very true. I wasn’t my best self preparing for Jack.”
After the Hermansson fight, Pyfer’s team sat him down, “and got my ass back to the grind. Everything happens for a reason, and I’m very thankful for the experience. I’m just grateful for this win. It feels good.”
“They said my hype was gone, they said something else. I was just letting them know that it’s not true. Because now I’ve got a knockout, everybody’s back on notice. ‘Oh sh*t, this kid does-‘ It’s not a fluke. I didn’t just kind of have a little streak, then ‘aww I lost to Jack and I’m done.'”
“I was hurting for that fight.”
Pyfer called out Paul Craig following his UFC 303 fight, which seemed to check the right boxes for many fans. As to why, Pyfer couldn’t quite put his finger on it, at least at first.
“I dunno. I don’t like the dude. That’s the only thing I can say, is I don’t really like the guy,” said Pyfer. “Something about his f*cking face. I think it’s the antics. He’ll get in your face and be all theatrical, and then he gets touched and he falls down like a back princess.”
Watch the full UFC 303 post-fight press conference with Joe Pyfer above.
