Joe Pyfer considers Kelvin Gastelum fight 'one of them layups,' stands by Mexico insults
Joe Pyfer sees a big incentive in beating Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 316.
Pyfer (13-3 MMA, 4-1 UFC) vs. Gastelum (19-9 MMA, 13-9 UFC) was rebooked for June 7 in Newark, N.J. The pair were originally scheduled to fight at UFC on ESPN 64 in Mexico City this past March, but the bout was scrapped after Pyfer withdrew from the fight hours before due to illness.
'No, I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to run it back with him, man," Pyfer said on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "I think this is a great opportunity for me. I think this fight is kind of one of them layups for me to really perform, and it's no discredit to him. I have respect for him. I haven't heard him say anything, to my knowledge, of him talking sh*t, or I'd have a different demeanor. But I think he's been respectful. I think I've been respectful of him, and I've trained my ass off for him."
Gastelum hasn't been performing like the fighter who once pushed Israel Adesanya to the brink, but his durability has held on. Pyfer wants to test his chin.
"I've literally had f*cking double dreams of everything," Pyfer said. "Every scenario, I've had a double f*cking dream. I'm just tired of picturing his fat-ass f*cking face in my brain every f*cking day. I'm over it. I'm just ready to do the dance. I'm ready to throw down. He's an exciting guy, I'm an exciting guy. Obviously I'm the prospect. He's the vet. ... I want to be the first guy to knock him out, man, just quite frankly. I know I can do it."
Pyfer stands by calling Mexico 'sh*thole'
When Pyfer pulled out of his first fight with Gastelum, he labeled Mexico as a "sh*thole" country and vowed to never return again. He didn't walk back his comments when addressing what happened.
"Look at it this way: I don't have to go into specifics, but if the country was so great, we wouldn't have so many problems,' Pyfer said. "What I said was misconstrued. I said, 'If that's what fighting in that country is, then f*ck that place, it's a sh*thole,' and so on and so forth. I don't understand why we would risk fighting there. The risk is so great. I got sick twice, and I never said anything about it.
"There's people who still have side effects. 'DC' went on and said, 'Man, my stomach was messed up, I hate that place,' and nobody gave him sh*t for it. I'm a little bit more unapologetic. It's nothing towards the people. The people were fine. I had nothing bad to say about the people. It's just as far as fighting there, fighting at that elevation, fighting at that altitude, why would I risk that?"
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