Joe Pyfer is back to being Joe Pyfer. The middleweight prospect regained some of the momentum he lost in February with a vicious first-round stoppage of Marc-Andre Barriault at UFC 303 on Saturday.
Pyfer entered the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with a chip on his shoulder and took out a lot of aggression on Barriault. Pyfer rocked the notoriously tough Canadian with a combination of punches before face-planting him with a vicious uppercut. The fight was officially stopped only one minute and 25 seconds into Round 1.
“All you haters, talking all that stuff. Where you at now?” Pyfer asked during his post-fight interview. “Saying I’m gonna lose… Chant ‘USA’ we don’t do that enough!”
Pyfer (13-3) was in a bad mood all fight week. He was one of the UFC’s hottest prospects entering 2024 with four consecutive stoppage wins between UFC and the “Contender Series.” A close unanimous decision loss to veteran Top 15 ranked UFC welterweight Jack Hermansson earlier this year brought a lot of public criticism. Pyfer relished in shutting mouths with his highlight-reel finish of Barriault.
“I tell you,” Pyfer said. “Joe Pyfer only needs one, baby!”
Barriault dropped to 16-8, 1 NC and suffered his second KO loss in 25 professional fights. Barriault had a strong 2023 with wins over Julian Marquez and Erik Anders but is 0-2 this year with losses to Chris Curtis and Pyfer.
