Daniel Cunningham
This past Saturday in the main event of UFC Seattle, we saw a big time matchup in the middleweight division. Former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya (24-6) was looking to halt his losing streak while Joe Pyfer (16-3) was looking to continue his winning streak and leap frog into the top of the middleweight rankings.
When breaking down this fight, I figured that Pyfer would be the most dangerous in the first couple of rounds. I personally picked Adesanya to win late after surviving the early attacks from Pyfer. Pyfer did have his moments in the first round including a big takedown.
However, Adesanya felt like he was taking things over in the second round. Pyfer was seeing his lead leg chewed up by leg kicks and Adesanya was looking good. Then, Adesanya decided to stand right in front of Pyfer which was a huge mistake. Both men landed but Pyfer obviously landed with more power.
Pyfer then chained his power shots into a takedown where he immediately went to mount. Eventually, he flattened out Adesanya while having his back and got the TKO finish. A massive win for Pyfer at UFC Seattle.
What’s next after UFC Seattle?
With this win, Joe Pyfer finds himself in the middleweight top ten. I was a little surprised by the rankings update this week because when a guy beats someone, they usually take the exact ranking the fighter was at. However, the rankings moved Pyfer up but only to a tie for sixth with Anthony “Fluffy” Hernandez.
In terms of what’s next for Pyfer, I think you could be looking at a few fighters. Caio Borralho could be a name to watch here. Borralho has been calling for a fight with Dricus Du Plessis and I honestly think that’s the right fight for the UFC to make. However, Pyfer could fight either Borralho or DDP should a fight between the two of them not materialize.
Brendan Allen is another name to watch. Allen is fighting Edmen Shahbazyan in June and should he win that one, I could see the UFC looking at Pyfer – Allen later in the year.
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