Joe Pyfer is out for revenge.
At UFC 287, Pyfer secured the second win of his young UFC career, knocking out longtime veteran Gerald Meerschaert in the first round. And now, he has his sights set on an old foe.
“I called out Dustin Stoltzfus,” Pyfer said on The MMA Hour. “I DMed him. He had some health issues. I know it was a little bit heated this weekend and was really hard on calling him out, and I still am going to call him out. I still want that fight because it’s personal for me, and he’s in the UFC, so why shouldn’t I be allowed to fight somebody that’s in my division?”
Pyfer and Stoltzfus previously fought in 2020 on the promotion’s Contender Series. Pyfer found success early until Stoltzfus went for a takedown, which ended up dislocating Pyfer’s elbow. As a result, Stoltzfus was signed to the UFC, while Pyfer instead had a long recovery process and fought twice more before joining the organization.
Now, Pyfer wants to set the record straight.
“Look at this [showing his left arm, unable to full straighten],” Pyfer said. “Look at my arm. That s*** will never go straight again because of that motherf*****. No, he didn’t do it on purpose. This is what I’m saying. I like the guy! I like the guy, if he wasn’t in the UFC.
“You got in the UFC. I didn’t tap, I didn’t get knocked out. It was a medical thing. I understand that he mat-returned me, I put my arm out, and it dislocated, but we’ve all been in training. Anybody that knows training, everybody will post out. … It’s a one in a million chance that my f****** arm dislocated and exploded and broke backwards.
“How do I not deserve a chance back at that? I came back. I came back through depression, I came back through suicide. I came back and I f****** fought my way back. I didn’t even get a shot back, I had to go win a fight when I was told I would get a shot back because I was ‘winning the fight.’ I go, I win a fight, I knock a guy out with the arm that broke, then I come back, I fight an LFA middleweight champion, knock him the f*** out after 94 percent thought I was going to get beat. Suck my d***, I won, and then I make a debut and I f****** knock out a guy that had eight knockouts. I get it, he was on the tail end, he was on his way out, but it’s still danger.
“So I fought him, I knock him out, and then I fight Gerald Meerschaert, who he had a tough fight with and he lost. You’re 1-4 in the UFC, you don’t make the f****** shots. I should be allowed to call you out. I should be allowed to get that fight back. I earned that s***. This is the fight game, why can’t I fight anybody I want to fight?”
One impediment to the rematch is the position both men are currently in. With the win over Meerschaert, Pyfer is now 2-0 in the UFC, with two first-round knockouts, and a world of hype behind him. Stoltzfus, in contrast, has struggled in the UFC, losing four of five in the promotion, including a submission loss to Meerschaert in 2021. By almost any measure, the fight would be a step backward for Pyfer, but “Bodybagz” doesn’t care.
“F*** the position,” Pyfer said. “I don’t care if I’m No. 1, I don’t care if I’m No. 20, 25, 45, I want that fight back. That’s personal for me.
“I’m giving him a chance! I’ve DMed him two different times. Respectfully, I’ve DMed him, and he told me, ‘You’re going [up], I wouldn’t even worry about that fight. It is what it is.’ Bro, no. I’m a competitor. Who are you to tell me to just let it go? You’re in the UFC. You’re not my f****** friend. I like you, I think you’re a good guy, but you’re not my f****** friend. Let’s f****** run it back. And if you really beat me, why wouldn’t you want it? That’s my thing.”
Ultimately, Pyfer may not get what he wants. Aside from Stoltzfus’ apparent disinterest, there is also the matter of the UFC. And so, if he can’t get that matchup, Pyfer is prepared to settle for an appropriate next step in his journey up the UFC ladder.
“Let me just say, because I don’t think he’ll take the fight — and if he takes the fight, sure, I don’t want this guy to hate me over this, I’m not trying to s*** on the man as a person,” Pyfer said. “I’m just trying to compete against the man in the cage, that’s all.
“I think we deserve a fair run back. This isn’t one surgery. [Shows arm again.] This is two surgeries. This s*** f***** me up mentally. Of course I want to f****** get that anger back out on his f****** face. If he doesn’t want it — because that’s my next fight, that’s what I want, I want Dustin Stoltzfus. And if he doesn’t want it, I want the winner of Cody Brundage and Rodolfo Vieira. Those are the the guys I want to fight. Any of those three.”