Not-mad Joe Pyfer reveals UFC matchmaker accused him of being ‘scared’ of Abus Magomedov – ‘I was butt hurt’
Don’t doubt “Bodybagz!”
Newly-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight contender, Joe Pyfer, scored another impressive finish at UFC 320 this past weekend (Sat., Oct. 4, 2025), submitting Abus Magomedov in the second round inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada (watch highlights).
Immediately after the submission, Pyfer was seen screaming through the cage. And today (Tues., Oct. 7, 2025), “Bodybagz” revealed that his fiery words were aimed at UFC matchmaker, Mick Maynard, for doubting him
That’s because last week during UFC 320 media day (rewatch it here), Pyfer told reporters that, “someone in the UFC” accused him of being “scared” to fight Magomedov. That verbal jab motivated him to accept the 185-pound bout after his win over Kelvin Gastelum earlier this year.
Well, Maynard got a piece of Pyfer’s mind after the win.
Joe Pyfer reveals what was said in his cage-side exchange with Dana White:
"After I won, I was screaming at [Mick Maynard] that he was wrong & I'm not scared of shit… Dana had no idea that's how I felt about it.
He was like, 'I thought you were reading our texts.' I told him… pic.twitter.com/pWetISBNuV
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 7, 2025
“I got offered Abus before I fought Kelvin, and I said ‘no’ because he was behind me in the rankings and I wanted to move forward,” Pyfer explained to Ariel Helwani today. “I was out for awhile after back surgery, so Mick was mad at me … and for good reason.
“He was like, ‘Dude, you f—king don’t want to take the fight, and I’m offering you a fight,’” he continued. “‘Like, if you don’t take it, then you’ll just kind of have to wait.’ And so I was like, ‘Okay, then I’ll wait.’ I just [didn’t] like the matchup coming off back surgery, and that’s fine…. I also didn’t like the narrative that I was afraid to fight him.
“So, after I won, I was screaming at Mick that he was wrong, and I’m not scared of shit, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” Pyfer continued. “It was kind of a ‘told you so’ type of way. It definitely could have come out the wrong way.
“I was a little butthurt toward Mick because I don’t like people thinking I’m scared,” Pyfer added. “I was never really that mad about it. Obviously, it bothered me a little bit. Because, again, I’m not afraid of anybody, and if it makes sense, I’ll fight anybody.”
With the win, Pyfer (15-3) extended his streak to three straight victories since his lone Octagon loss to Jack Hermansson — and got exactly what he wanted: a spot in UFC’s Middleweight Top 15.
