"Before I fought Kelvin I was offered Abus and I said no. I didn't like it. I didn't think it made sense. I want to go up in the rankings."
"I know it would have done something for my resume to beat a guy like Abus back then, before I beat Kelvin, but Abus was behind me. Then he got the Michel Pereira fight. He won, he was ranked, I wasn't."
"The second I won I told my manager I said I want to fight Abus. I didn't like the narrative of, I'm not going to say who, but they kind of acted like I didn't want the fight because I was scared. I don't know what it was. So I was like yeah give me Abus Magomedov. Let's run it."
"He's a very skilled guy, but he lost to Sean Strickland. Then he lost to Caio (Borralho), but the common theme that I'm seeing in this matchup is that he's able to be hurt, and he slows down significantly after round 2,"
Joe Pyfer (14-3) returns to the Octagon at UFC 320 to face Abus Magomedov in a middleweight clash that could earn a ranking. Pyfer is coming off a decision win over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 316 after the bout was rebooked from Mexico. Pyfer initially declined an earlier offer to fight Magomedov because he prioritized moving up the rankings. After beating Gastelum he pursued the Magomedov matchup to counter narratives that he avoided the fight. Pyfer highlighted Magomedov's losses to Sean Strickland and Caio Borralho and questioned Magomedov's cardio, noting a tendency to slow after round two.
Read at Cageside Press
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