Joe Pyfer takes umbrage with Joe Rogan's commentary of UFC 316 fight

USA Today

11-06-2025

Joe Pyfer takes umbrage with Joe Rogan's commentary of UFC 316 fight
Joe Pyfer wasn't thrilled to listen back to Joe Rogan's commentary for his fight at UFC 316.
Pyfer (14-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) knocked down Kelvin Gastelum (20-10 MMA, 13-10 UFC) twice en route to a unanimous decision win this past Saturday at UFC 316. Gastelum has never been knocked out in 30 professional fights.
Pyfer was met with some criticism from the UFC 316 broadcast team, with Rogan suggesting that if Pyfer wants to compete with the top-ranked middleweights, he can't rely so much on trying to land a knockout punch and must have a more technical approach. The Dana White's Contender Series alum was surprised by that assessment.
"They were a little hard on me," Pyfer said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "Joe Rogan was a little hard on me. I just think the expectation is set so high for me, that if I don't get a devastating finish, then everybody kind of starts being like, 'Oh, well, if he wants to fight the higher competition, he's got to do this, he's got to do that.'
"It's like, 'Bro, Abus Magomedov just fought Michel Pereira when he was 2-2 in the UFC, and now he's ranked No. 11. You could go from being unranked to No. 11 in one fight. I'll get the better competition, relax. I think they were a little bit unfair as far as the reality of the fight. It was not a close fight. I was never in danger."
Pyfer has won seven of his past eight fights and has finished all but one of his UFC wins. His lone octagon blemish came against Jack Hermansson, who was able to outlast him in the UFC Fight Night 236 main event in February 2024.