SUMMARY
- Joe Pyfer is set to fight at UFC Vegas 86 against Jack Hermansson on February 10, 2024.
- During a press conference, Dana White was asked about Joe Pyfer's fight against Jack Hermansson.
Joe ‘Bodybagz’ Pyfer is an American professional MMA fighter competing in the UFC’s middleweight division. Joe Pyfer turned professional in MMA in 2018 and, ever since, has a professional MMA record of 12-2-0. The New Jersey-born and raised fighter is on a current 4-match win streak and hasn’t lost since way back in August 2021.
What’s more, all of his last four wins have been finished inside two rounds, with not one of the four fights going to the judges’ scorecards. Joe Pyfer has been one of the brightest prospects in the UFC over the last two years and currently holds that title, according to many UFC enthusiasts, along with maybe Bo Nickal.
Joe Pyfer has unprecedented power in his hands for a middleweight. That, along with his sheer frame of 6’2″, makes him a frightening presence inside the octagon. Pyfer has reportedly already beaten Francis Ngannou’s hardest punch recorded. This makes him an even more exciting prospect at middleweight in the eyes of the MMA community.
Joe Pyfer will be making his first-ever main event at UFC Vegas 86 against Jack Hermansson on February 10, 2024, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, Nevada, Las Vegas. A few days prior to the fight, Dana White provided his thoughts on Joe Pyfer’s incredible journey into the UFC so far.
Dana White praises Joe Pyfer’s hardships and struggles
UFC CEO Dana White gave a press conference following the recently concluded Powerslap 6 event. During the event, Dana was posed various questions about Powerslap and also about the UFC. One or two such questions aimed at Dana were about the 27-year-old middleweight prospect, Joe Pyfer.
Dana White, while answering those questions, did not let go of the opportunity to praise Joe Pyfer even once. Firstly, Dana was asked about his thoughts on Pyfer and his upcoming fight against Hermansson. Dana answered, “I’m so excited for that fight…I mean, he is the epitome of every sports movie you’ve ever seen, overcoming adversity and broke, struggling, but keeping his eye on the prize”.
Dana further continued, “He’s had this dream of where he wanted to be, gets back in, wins, gets the contract, in spectacular fashion. And goes on a five-fight win streak over to however many fights he’s on now, and all by finish. And now he’s taking on a bada** dude that will break him into the top ten if he wins.”
This was not all, though, as Dana went on to liken Pyfer’s journey to that of a very inspirational and famous Hollywood character. Someone who is synonymous with the essence of never giving up. Dana said, “You couldn’t have a better story than this. It’s like a real-life Rocky movie.” These sure were some big words from the UFC boss. But what adversity was Dana referring to?
Joe Pyfer has gone from breaking his arm to headlining at UFC Vegas 86
To those who are unaware, Joe Pyfer is the perfect example of being strong through fierce adversity and hard situations. In an interview with the MMA Hour in September 2022, Joe Pyfer opened up about the hardships he has had in his life. Pyfer was abused as a child by his parents, but that did not stop him from pursuing MMA. He even ran away from his house once.
In the interview, Joe Pyfer talked about how his arm injury was one of the biggest setbacks in his life. In August 2020, Pyfer got into the octagon with the hopes of completing his dream of securing a UFC contract on the Dana White Contender Series. But instead, in the opening minutes of the bout, his right arm got twisted in an inhumane way, costing him the match.
The arm injury not only meant that Joe had to sit out for around a year but also disturbed his mental health. In the interview, Pyfer also talked about how he was having suicidal thoughts after sustaining that injury. But in the end, he used all of those negative thoughts to further fuel his motivation to come back.
Joe Pyfer went on to win his next Dana White contender series fight and secure a UFC contract. This win marked the start of his streak. He won his first fight in the UFC against Alem Aledovski in the first round via TKO. Then he cleaned up Gerald Meerschaert in Round 1 and went on to submit Abdul Razak Alhassan in his most recent outing.
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With all his struggles only making him stronger, Joe Pyfer is now ready to headline his first-ever UFC event. ‘Bodybagz’ will be gunning for the win against Jack Hermansson on February 10. A win would most definitely place him in the top ten UFC middleweight rankings. And that is exactly what his fans would want.