Joe Pyfer scored the biggest victory of his MMA career with a second-round TKO victory over former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC Seattle, which went down Saturday night at the Climate Pledge Arena.
Pyfer had all the momentum going into the octagon on a three-fight win streak against Adesanya, who attempted to rebound from a three-fight skid, and they engaged in a stand-up battle for as long as Pyfer managed to the the bout to the canvas and finish “The Last Stylebender”.
Adesanya found success with his takedown defense in the opening round, connecting a head kick and jumping knee that connected to Pyfer’s neck. Pyfer fired back with a combo of punches to Adesanya’s head, but the ex-champion continued to chop Pyfer’s leg with calf kicks. Pyfer finally got a takedown with seconds left in the work in the first round, but the path became clearer for him.
Adesanya started round two attacking the body with three kicks and Pyfer complained being poked in the eye. Action resumed and Pyfer connected a right hand before clinching, which Adesanya denying another takedown. Pyfer and Adesanya exchanged wildly on the feet, hurting each other multiple times before Pyfer took him down and secured the mount and back take. Adesanya did his best to survive with two minutes left on the clock, but Pyfer changed plans and went with the ground and pound attacks instead of submission attempts to hurt Adesanya and force referee Hetb Dean save him.
Watch the stoppage below.
“It’s weird, it’s like I could see this moment happening,” Pyfer said after the victory. “I almost took my own life a couple of weeks ago and I found God and I hate crying so I’m going to keep it together. God restored me, that’s the only reason I’m here. USA baby, let’s go!”
Pyder admitted he got “sloppy” in the fight, which led to Adesanya chopping down his lead leg, but managed to remain focused for the victory.
“The reason in the second round, we knew I had the bigger firepower, so we were just going to keep that pressure on him,” Pyfer said. “I was super sloppy yet again, getting my leg beat up, but I just kind of have this mentality that I don’t care. I’m going to search and destroy and you better put me out because I’m not stopping.”
“Izzy is not the most powerful guy in the world, we know that,” he continued. “He’s one of the highest IQ champions of all time, two-time champion, there’s nobody better than him in my book, he’s the greatest middleweight of all time. He’s so successful outside of the sport now. Whatever he does, I support him, I love you as a champion, I love you as a person, congratulations to Israel. What I will say, my man was No. 4, I’m in the top 5. As Izzy said, ‘They need me. And I am here.’ I’m 16-3, I’m 29 years old, I’ve got the most beautiful woman waiting at home waiting for me to marry her, I love you. All glory to God for this victory or I’d be dead in a ditch somewhere. Let’s go! And that’s a bonus!”
Adesanya has now lost four in a row in the UFC, dropping to 1-5 in his past six, but interrupted Daniel Cormier in his post-fight interview when one could imagine he was about to announce his retirement from the sport.
“You keep going again and again and again and again and again. I’m not f*cking leaving,” Adesanya said. “You’ll never stop me. I might get beaten, but I’ll always remain undefeated.”
“I expected the best Joe Pyfer,” he added. “I knew this was his biggest fight ever, so he’s going to bring his best and he did. There was nothing surprising. I expected the best and he brought the best. … Congrats to Joe Pyfer for this.”
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