What’s Next For Joe Pyfer?

UFC Vegas 86 went down this past weekend (Sat., Feb. 10, 2024) inside UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, leaving plenty of fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Brad Tavares, who suffered a technical knockout loss at the hands of Gregory Rodrigues (see it again here).

And Andre Fili, who was starched by Dan Ige in the first round of their co-headlining Featherweight bout (highlights). And let’s not forget about Trevin Giles, who was knocked out by UFC newcomer, Carlos Prates, in the opening frame (relive it again here). But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?

Joe Pyfer.

Coming into the event, Pyfer was looking to make a statement in what was his first chance at headlining a UFC card. It was a great opportunity for “Bodybagz” to shine, much like he had been doing in his first three fights with the promotion, earning three stoppage wins.

But, as good of a performance that he put on, his opponent, Jack Hermansson, was just slightly better, earning a unanimous decision win after 25 minutes of action. Pyfer had some shining moments, but Hermansson’s experience really showed, taking over in the later rounds and erasing all the hype and momentum that Pyfer had coming in.

“I just want to say I’m okay, despite how my face looks,” Pyfer said after the loss. “I wasn’t rocked. I got punched in the eyeball, I couldn’t see. He did a good job on the calf. I feel like when I lost vision, I failed that round — I lost that round — and then just I couldn’t get it back, and then he did a good job on the calf.

“To all my haters, suck a fat d—k,” Pyfer continued. “I wasn’t supposed to be here anyway. I give it 100 percent every time, and yeah, we’ll make adjustments, and we’ll come back. Thank you to all my sponsors. Thank you to everybody who supports me. And yeah, good job, Jack.”

But, it’s not all bad for Pyfer because he is, after all, just four fights deep into his UFC career and showed great promise against an experienced veteran. The 27-year-old will undoubtedly take the loss and learn from it, which will only make him better moving forward.

As far as what is next for “Bodybagz,” perhaps a showdown against the winner of the upcoming 185-pound bout between Claudio Ribeiro vs. Christian Leroy Duncan — who are set to throw down at UFC Vegas 87 on March 2, 2024 — is in order.

Neither Ribeiro nor Duncan are ranked at the moment — and aren’t even close to having the track record that Hermansson does — but Pyfer is going to have to take a step back with the opposition following his loss. Should he manage to get a win over either man, it’s a positive step forward to getting him back to facing ranked opponents.

Sooner the better.

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For complete UFC Vegas 86 results, coverage and highlights, click HERE.